Erik ten Hag hooks Antony at half-time after first half showboating left pundits far from impressed

Manchester United forward Antony was knocked out at halftime after showing his trademark 720 spin on the ball late in the first period, but without the intended effect.

The Brazilian was in the space to the right with the game still at 0-0, but instead of riding the sheriff’s defense he chose that moment to show, before putting the ball out of play with a poorly rated forward pass.

And pundits were left fuming with his actions, which came as his side was still chasing an opening goal in the game.

Commenting for BT, Robbie Savage said: ‘That’s ridiculous to me, because he did that and then put the ball out of play – shameful! If he does that with no one around, he puts the ball out of play. If I was the manager I wouldn’t be happy.

“And you can hear the crowd – he’s trying to win a match, moving the ball fast when no one is around, and he’s putting the ball out of play! Embarrassing.’

And the former Wales international wasn’t alone in his deeply scathing assessment of the young Brazilian forward.

Erik ten Hag was far from impressed with the display, while his side was still looking for an opener

‘I don’t know what he’s doing. It’s just ridiculous,” ex-United star Paul Schole said. ‘It’s showboating, look at him (Ten Hag shakes his head), that sums up what he thinks.

“He doesn’t beat a man, he doesn’t entertain anybody, it’s 0-0 and then he kicks the ball out. That’s how he plays. I’ve often seen him do it at Ajax and that’s just the way he is, but I think he needs that elimination.’

The Dutch manager was visibly less impressed with his big-money summer signing, shaking his head as he watched from the dugout as his side still forced the attack.

And although Diogo Dalot eventually got the ball in the back of the net for United, Ten Hag was clearly not amused and Antony replaced England striker Marcus Rashford at half-time.

Antony has a history of trying the spectacular but misread the situation on Thursday

The 22-year-old has a reputation for trying out the spectacle, having tried the same piece of skill several times in previous campaigns under Ten Hag at Ajax with varying degrees of success.

But the 52-year-old has now made his views clear on the matter and it remains to be seen if the Brazilian will try something similar on his next appearance.

“If you want to do it, that last pass has to be good,” added ex-Three Lions and United midfielder Owen Hargreaves. “You can’t kick it out. But so it is.

“At 0-0 you don’t do that, even at 3 or 4-0 you don’t really do that compared to the other team. But players want to show their skills, but they have to deal with it functionally. Throwing it out won’t help either.’

Paul Scholes was particularly unimpressed, claiming he ‘knocked it out of him’