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Manchester United suffered a crushing defeat on Thursday night time, conceding twice in stoppage time to fall 4-3 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Whereas United had been two objectives down after solely 19 minutes, they did effectively to stage a comeback and take a 3–2 lead earlier than surrendering it within the last minutes.
From the primary whistle, struggling winger Antony confirmed his need to earn his place in Eric ten Hag's beginning 11.
Antony tried to take the lead for United from the primary minute and took a shot from shut vary which was blocked. As soon as United fell behind by a aim, he tried his signature shot from the sting of the field, turning the ball extensive of the far publish and forcing the Chelsea goalkeeper to make a save.
Regardless of being unable to get on the scoresheet, the Brazilian was a relentless risk to Chelsea's defence, having one shot on track whereas having two makes an attempt blocked. He was by no means allowed to overlook the goal, which exhibits that his accuracy has improved.
One space the place Antony improved considerably from earlier matches was his show of high quality on the ball. He managed to finish six of his seven dribble makes an attempt, whereas profitable 9 of 16 duels in complete.
The Brazilian additionally carried out effectively in recovering and aiding his group in defence, finishing two tackles whereas solely being dribbled as soon as. Nonetheless, the one defensive mishap he dedicated occurred within the nineteenth minute when he gave away a penalty.
Upon nearer inspection, there was not a lot to his deal with on Mark Cucurella, together with his knee hitting the facet of the Chelsea participant. Nonetheless, it was an pointless transfer for Antony, particularly because the Chelsea defender was not in a extremely harmful place.
The strongest facet of Antony's efficiency was his demise. The winger accomplished 32 of his 37 passes with an 86% passing accuracy.
He accomplished two key passes in addition to all three of his lengthy balls and his solely cross of the sport.
Antony's shining second undoubtedly got here within the 67th minute, when he drilled a cross from the appropriate to the other wing, the place Alejandro Garnacho was in a position to rating to provide United the lead.
Whereas United had been unable to see out the win, Antony was undoubtedly instrumental in giving them the possibility to return away with the dear three factors.
In the end, this efficiency confirmed the promise that Antony can deliver to United's attacking play, probably displaying that his struggles to adapt to life at Previous Trafford will be overcome with the appropriate steering.
Statistics by way of Sofascore.com.
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