Man United’s ‘shameless’ £85m ‘prat’ Antony is slammed for ear-cupping taunt to defeated Coventry heroes and told ‘you wouldn’t even start for them’ by Gabby Agbonlahor after disastrous FA Cup cameo
- Antony cupped his ear to the heartbroken Coventry players after shoot-out win
- Brazilian failed to contribute much as Man United scraped into the FA Cup final
- If Erik ten Hag wins the FA Cup with Man United, does he deserve to keep his job? Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Manchester United‘s Antony has been described as a ‘shameless prat’ after he goaded defeated Coventry players with an ear-cupping celebration.
The £85million Brazilian mocked the Sky Blues after his team scraped into the FA Cup final on penalties having chucked away a three-goal lead and then escaped defeat by a tight VAR offside decision.
After Rasmus Hojlund scored the decisive penalty, Antony was among a handful of United players who celebrated, with the overriding emotion one of relief and acute embarrassment.
Gabriel Agbonlahor, the former Aston Villa striker, slammed Antony’s behaviour on X: ‘Antony cups his ears as he celebrates in front of Coventry players?
‘Is this guy the most shameless flop ever to grace our beautiful league? Shame on you Antony, you wouldn’t even start for Coventry you prat.’
Antony shamelessly cupped his ear to the heartbroken Coventry City players after Manchester United beat them on penalties to reach the FA Cup final
Antony celebrates United’s fortunate victory over the Championship side at Wembley
The £85m Brazilian winger was described as a ‘shameless flop’ and a ‘prat’ by Agbonlahor
Agbonlahor wasn’t impressed by Antony’s behaviour as United scraped through to the final
Your browser does not support iframes.
Ex-Coventry forward Clinton Morrison was also scathing of Antony on BBC Radio 5 Live, saying: ‘He needs to concentrate on himself because he could be playing [in] the Championship next season.’
Journalist Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News also pointed out Antony referred to Coventry as ‘Covertry’ in an Instagram post previewing the semi-final.
Antony, who has contributed just two goals and two assists in a season to forget, came on for Alejandro Garnacho in the 66th-minute at Wembley.
Erik ten Hag’s side were cruising into a final against Manchester City on May 25 at that point as they led 3-0 courtesy of goals by Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes.
But United then collapsed as Coventry scored three times through Ellis Simms, Callum O’Hare and Haji Wright to force extra time.
United then had a lucky escape in the closing stages of extra time when Victor Torp’s ‘winner’ for Coventry was disallowed by VAR because Wright strayed marginally offside in the build-up.
After Casemiro saw an awful penalty saved, Callum O’Hare’s kick was kept out by Andre Onana before Ben Sheaf missed. Hojlund converted the decisive penalty to send United to the final.
Victor Torp thought he had scored the winner for Coventry against United in the 121st minute
VAR ruled Coventry’s extra-time winner against Manchester United in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final marginally offside (pictured: the VAR decision system replaying the incident)
The Red Devils advanced to the FA Cup final on penalties and set up a repeat of last year’s showpiece
While Antony chose to celebrate, he was one of only a select few, with Roy Keane pointing out the majority of United stars appeared embarrassed after their victory.
‘Some of the United players and supporters weren’t going over the top with the celebrations.’ He said on ITV. ‘They were almost embarrassed to win at the end.
‘Whenever I see this United team I don’t like what I see. Talk about leadership and characters, I don’t see that in this United team. My goodness, they rode their luck today.’