Manchester United striker Antony revealed in an interview following United’s victory over Everton in an FA Cup tie on Friday that he was dealing with a personal problem that saw him absent from the match squad against Bournemouth midway through the week.
The Brazilian, who scored his side’s opening goal in their 3-1 win over Everton, told TNT Sports: “First of all, it’s a feeling of joy. I am happy to be able to score again, especially at home. I’ve set some goals this season and it’s good to score once I start thinking about personal goals. But the most important thing, of course, is United’s qualification for the next stage.”
“I also feel relieved because I was in shock for the past few days, but I prefer not to comment on what happened. It was a personal matter, very difficult, but I am very thankful to God that I can put that behind me now, thankful to the club, the players and the manager. Everyone stayed by my side,” the 22-year-old added.
Antony got off to a good start for United following his transfer from Ajax in the summer, scoring against Arsenal in his first ever game. Since then his impact had diminished and many fans criticized his offensive contributions.
In the game, Marcus Rashford scored his fifth goal in as many games after scoring two more to help Manchester United beat Everton 3–1 and reach the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Rashford set up Antony’s early opener and saw a second-half cross turn into his own net by Everton’s equalizer goal scorer Conor Coady.
Then, in stoppage time, Rashford kept his scoring run going by sending Jordan Pickford the wrong way from the penalty spot after Ben Godfrey fouled Alejandro Garnacho.
United were hardly relentless, grateful to see a possible Dominic Calvert-Lewin equalizer ruled out for a tight offside play. But United did enough to take seven straight wins in all competitions for the first time since 2019, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge.