Manchester United star Antony has been labelled “classless”, “embarrassing” and plenty worse following his celebrations after the Red Devils’ slim FA Cup semi-final win on penalties against Coventry City.
The Brazilian winger has been a divisive figure ever since he arrived at Old Trafford, with most arguing that the club have seen nowhere enough for his hefty price tag, not to mention that moments like his trademark spinning has served as little more than a meme at Man United‘s expense.
However, it’s his behaviour both on and off the pitch that has also made him an unlikeable figure this season. Being embroiled in an ongoing domestic assault case certainly has only exacerbated his public image but it was his latest viral moment against Coventry that has now irked even more people.
United managed to blow a 3-0 lead against the Championship side on Sunday, allowing the Sky Blues to push them all the way to penalties following a catastrophic 19-minute collapse (by no means the first this year), but it was Antony’s reaction after surviving the shootout that has left people countless arguing.
These are the celebrations Antony is being criticised for as United secured their place in the FA Cup final for the second year in a row.
Several supporters, Reds included, have come out to criticise the celebrations from Antony, who decided to direct his taunts towards the opposition who shone at Wembley from start to finish even after the heartbreaking twist of fate in what was a truly epic comeback.
ADVERTISEMENT
While there has been plenty of controversy surrounding the game – Coventry’s last-minute penalty to tie the game and what they thought was the winner only for it to be ruled in a ridiculously tight offside, just to name a couple – there can be no question as to it going down as an FA Cup classic.
All that being said, despite the game being a dramatic delight for the neutral, Antony’s ear-cupping after Rasmus Højlund scored the winning penalty has left many with a sour taste in their mouth and his reputation dented even further.
ADVERTISEMENT
The backlash on social media has been pretty vocal, with the 24-year-old branded as everything from “shameless”, “embarrassing” and “a disgrace” to “everything wrong with modern football”; one person even went so far as to label him “the most hateable player” in the sport. Yep, not a very popular bloke.
This feels like the defining image of Ten Hag’s reign. Antony — a player United’s scouts rated at £25m but Ten Hag insisted the club paid £85m for, with only two goals and one assist all season — cupping his ears to the Coventry players/fans after a game like that. Pathetic. pic.twitter.com/odpG1hKgXU
There are too many tweets to count when it comes to the debate Antony has sparked.
Although the vast majority have come out to condemn it as needless showboating, perceiving it as unnecessary salt in the wound to those already hurting in the stands, there are some dismissing the celebrations as simply part of the game.
Fan account Stretford Post wrote: “I have no issue with what Antony did, so what, he loves the game and loves to win, it’s emotional and we all let ourselves go sometimes. Accept the man’s personality and stop the agenda.”
ADVERTISEMENT
That being said, it’s fair to say the chaotic ending to the game gave the bulk of Man United fans in the stadium and watching home much to fully celebrate given the nature of their capitulation and even some of his teammates on the pitch looked reticent to run over to excitedly to Højlund after he scored.
ln fact, both captain Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire – who went straight to commiserate the Coventry players after the final penalty – were quick to acknowledge how fortunate they were to scrape through in the end, simply boiling it down a season-defining statement: “We have to do much better”.
🗣️ "Last-minute penalty… It's so harsh, his arm is down by his side."
Be it naivety or just getting swept in the spirit of a crucial FA Cup final-securing penalty shootout, the celebrations by Antony haven’t gone down well with many fans or pundits.
Former United and fellow winger Lee Sharpe told talkSPORT that while his age may have been a factor, he deemed the reaction “out of order” given how close his team came to bottling it. What did you make of the moment: perfectly acceptable given the circumstances or needless and ’embarrassing’?
It will now be a Manchester derby FA Cup final for the second year running and, one thing’s for sure, Erik ten Hag’s side can’t afford to make that many mistakes against Man City.
ADVERTISEMENT
You can watch the highlights from the frantic semi-final down below but, the better question is, which half of Manchester is going to leave with their hands on the trophy on 25 May?
Featured Images — BBC Sport/@MatthewStanger (via X)
Sport
Scott Carson reveals important behind-the-scenes role at Manchester City
Danny Jones
Recently retired goalkeeper Scott Carson has revealed the unsung but important role he had behind the scenes during his time at Manchester City.
The 40-year-old ex-pro called time on his playing career after more than two decades and six years in sky blue, having made just two appearances for the club during a period in which they won 11 trophies.
Carson officially hung up his gloves on 23 October 2025, following his contract expiration, and since then has found himself carrying out a number of interviews, including one with Fozcast, hosted by another fellow shotstopper who spent time in Manchester, Ben Foster.
While lots of people have joked that he did very little to earn the flurry of medals so late in his career, or at the very least theorised as to what he actually did behind the scenes, he’s now been more open than ever about the largely sidelined spell.
🗣️ "When people had to be serious, they were serious"
Scott Carson reveals what it was like working under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. pic.twitter.com/HZGjVkrso0
Sitting down with Sky Sports, the Cumbrian keeper confirmed that initially it was, indeed, just a case of serving as not even as a rotation option but a back-up third choice.
Nevertheless, he’s an experienced veteran with 11 different teams on his CV, including Leeds United, Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday – though only a handful of games for each – as well as half a century of appearances at Wigan Athletic before his longest stints at the likes of West Brom and Derby County.
While this job usually involves purely training, helping keep other players sharp, he says that after settling into the Etihad Campus a little more, he found himself performing a much more influential, albeit largely unsung, role in the background.
Getting validation from manager Pep Guardiola that the side “needed more of that”, he essentially ended up providing valuable seniority and motivation amongst the group, despite only playing a couple of times.
Bidding farewell to the Whitehaven-born cult hero, the club wrote: “During his time at City, Carson has been praised by goalkeeping coach Xabi Mancisidor and peers Ederson and Stefan Ortega Moreno for his work ethic and the effect of his positive attitude amongst the group.”
Speaking about Guardiola specifically, he hailed the Catalan coach for having overhauled modern football in this country, as well as giving him the secondary task of supporting his teammates, be it via boosting morale and ‘picking up’ those left frustrated by matchday selection.
As well as noting his widely publicised detail-oriented nature, he also made a point of recognising that Pep himself was “evolving each season”, whether or not everyone else saw it.
In short, he said he has helped improve the quality of the Premier League and, more specifically, that he helped redefine what a goalkeeper can be in the division.
You can watch the rest of the interview in full down below.
Manchester set to host five UEFA EURO 2028 matches – including England’s opening game
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been confirmed to be the host of five matches at the upcoming UEFA EURO tournament in 2028.
This also, crucially, would include England‘s opening match, should they qualify directly.
The joint announcement by Manchester City and Manchester City Council today comes as UEFA has now released key details about the UK & Ireland 2028 competition – which, as it stands, is less than 1,000 days away.
It has been confirmed that the Etihad Stadium – which is known as The City of Manchester Stadium when not relating to Manchester City football club – will host four Group Stage matches across four different groups, offering both local and international football fans the chance to see a range of different national teams in action.
On top of this, Manchester will also be the host a Round of 16 knockout match as the tournament progresses.
UEFA EURO 2028 will kick off at the National Stadium of Wales in Cardiff on Friday 9 June 2028, culminating in the Final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 9 July 2028.
Across the UK and Ireland, nine stadiums will host matches during the upcoming tournament – with other northern stadiums including Everton Stadium in Liverpool, and St James’ Park over in Newcastle.
More than three million tickets – as sold by UEFA – are set to be available for the tournament, and more information on this will be issued in due course.
Following an independent assessment, UEFA EURO 2028 is expected to generate up to £3.6 billion in socio-economic benefits for the UK and Ireland between 2028 and 2031, with benefits including job creation, regional growth, and direct spending from international visitors.
The countdown has started in Manchester for #EURO2028!
Five matches are scheduled to be played here – including England's opener if they qualify – and more than 300,000 fans will be welcomed to the city in June 2028.
Danny Jones -
22nd April 2024 
