Antony responds to Erik ten Hag demand for Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest

Antony's impact

The statistics hadn't been there to back it up, but there has been a feeling recently that the penny is beginning to drop for Antony at Manchester United.

The winger has had an inconsistent first season at Old Trafford after his £85.5million from Ajax, but as the campaign wears on he is beginning to find his best form. This has quite probably been his best week for the club.

He was impressive for no reward against Everton last weekend and played well against Sevilla in midweek, although that performance was more notable now for the rebuke he received from Erik ten Hag for winding Marcos Acuna up and becoming involved in a running battle with the left-back.

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It all began with a needless spin from Antony where he lost the ball and then clashed with Acuna and he needs to pick his moments to showboat, but in general play he has become more involved this week.

He was unlucky not to score against Sevilla, rattling the bar with a shot, but did get his first Premier League goal since October against Nottingham Forest, making the right run to be on hand to tap in the follow-up to Keylor Navas saving Anthony Martial's shot.

If that goal had been a long time coming, then his fourth assist for the club had been similar. The last time Antony had created a goal was at the end of January and that is an area he has to work on. The return isn't good enough for a winger with that price tag.

He showed what he can do in creating Diogo Dalot's goal, however. He could have had an assist against Sevilla had he released Jadon Sancho a little earlier in the first minute. On this occasion he timed his pass to perfection, releasing Dalot as he burst through the Forest defence. It