Antony made a ‘promise’ to Casemiro immediately after he was sent off for Manchester United against Southampton on Sunday.
Casemiro was shown a straight red card following a VAR review in Man United’s goalless draw with Southampton at Old Trafford.
The Brazilian, who was also sent off against Crystal Palace just last month, overcommitted in his tackle on Carlos Alcaraz, resulting in a red card.
Antony and Lisandro Martinez consoled the star midfielder, who slowly trudged off the pitch with a four-match ban.
Antony consoles a distraught Casemiro. Image: PA
But before he made his way back to the dressing room, Man United’s Brazilian forward grabbed him by the shoulder, pointed at his chest and appeared to say: “I will win this game for you.”
The 23-year-old created two chances, had one shot and won four of his duels before being substituted as he failed to live up to his promise to Casemiro.
Man United, though, remain in the Champions League spots as they currently occupy third place in the table, with 50 points on the board.
Speaking after the game, Erik ten Hag praised his team’s showing considering they were a man down and bemoaned Casemiro’s dismissal.
He said: “Casemiro has played over 500 games in Europe. He never had a red card. And now, what is it? In [the space of a few] games and 20 games [in total] in the Premier League, he has two red cards.
“His absence is not the issue. We will deal with that. The issue is that this game was influenced by the referee. I said what I said. That is the refereeing is influencing the game and we talk about two issues.
“Big compliment to the team, they showed big character. When you are a long time playing with 10 against 11, and we played on Thursday, once again the team is fit physically and mentally. It was a great performance by our lads and we could have won this game.”
Manchester United fans name man of the match v Southampton
Manchester United fans have named the man of the match after the 0-0 home draw with Southampton.
A frustrating afternoon saw United held at Old Trafford by a resurgent Saints side who have improved under new manager Ruben Selles.
United’s game was thrown into difficulty after Casemiro was handed a first half red card, after a VAR review which felt incredibly harsh.
This saw United have to play 55 minutes with 10 men, and had to settle for a goalless draw, with both sides hitting the woodwork.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty ImagesMan of the match v Southampton
Manchester United supporters named the club’s man of the match via a vote on the club website and app.
- David de Gea: 36 per cent
- Lisandro Martinez: 21 per cent
- Bruno Fernandes: 10 per cent
- Luke Shaw: 6 per cent
- Aaron Wan-Bissaka: 6 per cent
- All other players five per cent or fewer
With United keeping a clean sheet and failing to score, it was not a surprise to see one of the defensive players pick up the acclaim.
David de Gea made a couple of key interventions to keep Southampton out, and was fully deserving of the award and clean sheet.
The goalkeeper’s performance in the win over Real Betis had been criticised for his poor kicking. And while this is a part of his game that De Gea will probably never improve, he can still be valuable when it comes to keeping the ball out of the net.
This was a contrast to the result a week ago at Anfield when he made only one save from eight shots faced.
Against Southampton he saved all four shots he faced, ensuring United’s poor afternoon was not a truly awful one, with the Red Devils at least sharing the points.
