Antony had his best game yet for Manchester United, says Erik ten Hag

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Erik ten Hag pushed hard to sign Antony from Ajax in the summer and it has immediately been clear why he was so keen to land him.

The Brazil international scored his third goal in three league games to help Manchester United to a win over Everton on Sunday night.

On a night where Cristiano Ronaldo took the plaudits after scoring the winner and his 700th club career goal, Ten Hag made sure Antony’s contribution was not overshadowed.

The manager spoke highly of the winger, and said that he felt this was Antony’s best game yet for the club.

‘Antony had his best game yet’

Ten Hag told the club website he knew Antony was capable of having a quick impact at United, and is not surprised by his contribution.

He went into detail about the improvements he has been trying to get Antony to make, and how he is pleased to see the winger adhering to them.

Ten Hag said: “I was quite [confident] that he could straight away have an impact, and in the first games he has had his good moments, he had his bad moments, but I think today he played his best game so far.

“Now you see his running behind, and that is what I expect from him. Now I see his pressing, his defending is much better than in the first games and he has his dribbles, so I am happy with his performance, I am happy with his development.

“But I know there is still huge improvement and I know in the club and also in the Premier League that he needs to challenge. So he has to go every day to get out the best of him.”

Antony made a beeline for Ronaldo after the superstar’s winner and sent him a message on social media after the match expressing how excited he is to get to play alongside him.

The winger is already a regular starter for United and has a big part to play in the Ten Hag rebuild. It is great to see him hit the ground running.

He is a player with real personality, on and off the pitch, and already he is becoming a real fan favourite. When he was one on one with the goalkeeper it was never in doubt that he would score, and while he surely won’t score in every league game, there are surely lots more goals to come.