- Antony put his hand to his ear in celebration after United won on penalties.
- Erik ten Hag defended the Brazilian’s reaction this Tuesday
- VAR got Coventry’s winner right – those who wanted technology get what they want! Listen to the everything is beginning podcast
Antony broke his silence over his controversial celebration after Manchester United reached the FA Cup final after beating Coventry on penalties at Wembley on Sunday.
The Brazilian was widely criticized for putting his hand to his ear in the direction of the Coventry team when Rasmus Hojlund converted the crucial penalty.
And the Brazilian admitted that he lost his cool after being provoked throughout the match.
“Coventry showed why they reached the semi-final,” he posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
‘We seek [sought] this place in the final for our fans and we achieved it.
Antony was criticized for his celebrations in the FA Cup semi-final
The Brazilian (second from the left) controversially stroked his ear towards the Coventry players as Manchester United beat the Championship team on penalties.
“The way our players treated our fans was not pleasant and I, in the heat of the moment, reacted to the provocations in a natural defense of my club.”
Erik Ten Hag defended his £86m signing and also pointed out that Harry Maguire and other United players had behaved magnanimously towards their Championship opponents.
“He (Antony) was provoked (provoked), so this was a reaction to that,” Ten Hag said. ‘You haven’t seen the provocation just the reaction. But I shouldn’t do it.
‘Did you see Harry Maguire’s reaction? I have seen Harry Maguire immediately afterwards and others.
‘We must recognize Coventry’s performance in reaching that semi-final and the comeback.
“For 70 minutes we completely dominated the game by far, and 3-0 should close the game. But their response was very good.”
United looked to be heading into the final with a 3-0 lead on the hour, courtesy of goals from Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes.
But Coventry fought back, as Ellis Simms and Callum O’Hare scored twice in eight minutes, before Haji Wright converted a 95th-minute penalty to send the game into extra time.
The Sky Blues looked to have won a remarkable game when Victor Torp scored in the final minute of extra time, only for VAR to rule that Wright had been offside in the build-up.
