Erik ten Hag clarifies why he took Antony off at half-time, says he is testing new partnership

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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has clarified why he took Antony off at half-time.

The winger was replaced by Marcus Rashford, and there was some question over whether it was planned, or if it was a reprimand for showboating.

Antony performed his trademark 360 spin twice in a row, before misplacing a pass, out of play.

The sequence was over-analysed by BT Sport’s pundits, with former midfielder Paul Scholes criticising Antony as ‘ridiculous’.

Erik ten Hag clarifies why he took Antony off at half-time

Ten Hag explained that it was always his plan to bring Marcus Rashford on at the break.

He suggested he was undecided whether Antony or Alejandro Garnacho would come off, dependent on how the youngster was performing.

Ten Hag told BT Sport: “It was more or less planned. I wanted to see Cristiano and Marcus Rashford closer together and I thought Garnacho was playing quite well.”

Speaking about Antony’s skill move, Ten Hag clarified: “I don’t have a problem as long as it is functional.”

The noise over Antony’s piece of trickery was a distraction on a night where Manchester United won comfortably.

The Red Devils enjoyed 75 per cent possession in a 3-0 win, with Diogo Dalot, Marcus Rashford, and Cristiano Ronaldo on the scoresheet.

Real Sociedad won their game at Omonia 1-0, which means United must win by two clear goals against the Spaniards next week, in order to secure top spot in the group.

Testing new partnership

The narrative over the past fortnight has been Marcus Rashford or Cristiano Ronaldo, with only one of the two players starting in the last four games.

Ten Hag’s comments about wanting to see more of the pair playing together, underlines that he is keen to take a look at the pair in the same starting line-up.

This would leave just one spot for Jadon Sancho, Antony, and Alejandro Garnacho to fill.

Ten Hag will reflect that the experiment was a success, with both Rashford and Ronaldo scoring in the second half.

With Anthony Martial still not fit to play, it would not be a surprise to see both Rashford and Ronaldo start this weekend against West Ham.

Knowing the furore that leaving Ronaldo on the bench causes, it’s understandable Ten Hag is looking at ways to get him into his starting line-up.