Manchester United lost to Arsenal at The Emirates in another agonising late defeat.
Last season Manchester United conceded an injury time goal to lose 3-2 at The Emirates.
This time there were two late goals in a 3-1 loss, while United had one of their own ruled out.
One common factor was Antony was substituted in both games. His defensive work is integral to the team.
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Antony praised
Antony worked hard all game to track back and deny space to Arsenal’s attackers, helping out Aaron Wan-Bissaka in defence.
His contribution was praised by Gary Neville on Sky Sports: “That’s good work from Antony. Ten Hag has been asking him to do that defensive work for the team. It’s vital he did.”
Antony worked hard to deny Gabriel Martinelli time on the ball and his contribution worked, with Arsenal’s wingers largely ineffective.
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A gamble to attack
The Brazilian was substituted late for Alejandro Garnacho. It was almost a winning substitution.
Garnacho scored a dramatic late goal, which was then disallowed.
Antony’s defensive work was missed, but Manchester United had to gamble. Garnacho offered more attacking thrust than Antony did, in his short time on the pitch.
Perhaps the right call would have been to take off Marcus Rashford late. But you can’t second guess this too much.
Ten Hag’s call was centimetres away from being a masterstroke.