Antony continued his impressive start to life at Real Betis with a well-taken goal from distance in their UEFA Conference League clash against Gent at the Planet Group Arena.
The 24-year-old right winger, who joined the La Liga club from Manchester United in January on a six-month loan, made an immediate impression on his debut for Manuel Pellegrini’s men. After assisting Isco for the opener, the Brazilian was awarded the Player of the Match award for his performance against Athletic Bilbao before Pellegrini described his latest addition as a “quality player”.
Game One – Player of the 🥇
Match Game Two – Goals, Player ⚽️🥇
of the Match Game Three – Goals ⚽️
A few days later, Antony opened his goal account for Betis in their La Liga clash with Celta Vigo, and once again, the former Ajax winger picked up the POTM trophy.
“Antony is hungry, ambitious, determined and I love him,” said Pellegrini, who added: “He can be an excellent player for us.”
Now he has scored his second goal for Betis in the Conference League match against Gent, curling the ball past a helpless Davy Roef outside the box.
Here’s how fans on social media reacted to the scenes.
One United supporter said: “You can’t help but laugh. This is Antony. Are we the problem?” while another commented: “We are 100% the problem. Antony was very good before the fans started abusing him.”
A third wrote: “Antony joined Real Betis and he has scored back-to-back and won Man of the Match in every game. Man United was the problem. They’ve always been the problem.”
A fourth said: “Antony has 2 goals in his last 3 games and more, so it’s not just the goals, he’s actually been playing well, maybe we’re the problem.”
A fifth added: “He did this in his first games for United, don’t forget…”
Betis, meanwhile, are said to be interested in keeping Antony beyond his loan deal.
When asked if he could stay permanently, the club’s CEO Ramon Alarcon said: “Yes, I think so. The other day, the CEO of United called me. We sent them details about the player throughout the week so they can see that we take care of their belongings.
“We have very good chemistry with United and the player, who is happy here. There is a possibility that he will continue next season, why not?”
Antony, who joined United from Ajax in September 2022 for £86m, has scored just 12 goals and five assists in 96 appearances for the Premier League club.
