Bryan Robson did it with a bit of help from Frank Stapleton. Mark Hughes did it. Paul Scholes too. Now Antony’s name can be added to the list of Manchester United players who have brought Barcelona to their knees.
Antony didn’t start on what turned into a momentous night at Old Trafford. But his introduction at half-time helped to breathe new life into United as his Brazilian compatriot Fred cancelled out Robert Lewandowski’s penalty shortly after the restart.
Then in the 73rd minute came the decisive moment of this epic tie. Luke Shaw kept the ball in play in front of the Stretford End and Bruno Fernandes – as influential as he was unpredictable here – shrugged off Raphinha’s challenge before teeing up Alejandro Garnacho.
His shot was blocked by Andreas Christensen and so was Fred’s follow-up by Frenkie de Jong. The ball fell for Antony who kept his cool under pressure from Alejandro Balde to produce a sumptuous finish with the inside of his left foot beyond Marc-Andre ter Stegen from the edge of the box.
On the touchline, Erik ten Hag held up two clenched fists. Up in the stands, Sir Alex Ferguson was congratulated by his old rival Howard Wilkinson. Whatever Ten Hag and Ferguson discussed over that dinner on Tuesday night was well worth it.
So it’s United who advance to the last-16 of the Europa League after inflicting Barca’s first defeat in 19 games stretching back to October. And United who go into Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Newcastle at Wembley on a massive high.
Then it’s West Ham in the FA Cup and Liverpool in the Premier League. It’s been a long time since United were competing on so many fronts going into the business end of the season, and a long time since they beat Barcelona. Fifteen years to be exact.
Old Trafford erupted at the final whistle. The players stayed out longer than usual, lapping up the acclaim and why not? This was a special night, and there haven’t been nearly enough of them here since Ferguson retired.
Antony will get the headlines after following in the footsteps of Robson and Stapleton in ’84, Hughes in ’91 and Scholes in ’08.
But Ten Hag deserves credit for changing the game plan when things started to go wrong, and so do his players for executing it. Fred and Lisandro Martinez were particularly impressive last night.
Over the two legs, United were the better team. Not always, it has to be said. Having dominated at the Nou Camp, they were rather ordinary in the first half here.
Ten Hag’s decision to restore Wout Weghorst to a central striking role didn’t work. The Dutchman is a willing worker but lacks penetration.
The return of veteran Champions League campaigner Sergio Busquets after injury to captain Barcelona brought an air of calm to the Catalans, and De Jong worked overtime to snuff out any danger.
United’s only real chance came and went in the third minute. Casemiro sent Fernandes galloping through but he ignored Jadon Sancho and Weghorst and went for goal instead, and Ter Stegen saved with his right leg. It wasn’t the United captain’s only moment of poor judgement.
When Raphael Varane headed Raphinha’s cross clear in the 16th minute, Fernandes should have known better than to hook Balde’s left arm as he chased the loose ball to the edge of the box.
The defender was moving away from goal and posing little danger, which made Fernandes’ challenge all the more puzzling and his complaints were futile as French referee Clement Turpin pointed to the spot.
Lewandowski waited patiently for the VAR check and inevitable protests before placing the ball to David de Gea’s left. The United keeper guessed the right way and got a hand to the ball but couldn’t keep it out.
It could have been even worse for United before half-time when De Gea’s awful pass out was intercepted by Sergi Roberto in front of goal.
Lisandro Martinez did enough to hold him up before Casemiro got his body in the way of Franck Kessie’s shot.
Ten Hag realised his mistake and sent on Antony for Weghorst at the break, giving United more pace down the right and unleashing Marcus Rashford down the middle. It paid off less than two minutes after the restart.
United’s high press won the ball back on the edge of the Barca box and Sancho fed Fernandes.
His pass was intended for Antony out on the right, but Fred intercepted as he broke through the middle and the ball sat up nicely for him to beat Ter Stegen with a half volley.
Fernandes’ over-enthusiasm almost got the better of him against just before the hour mark when he slammed the ball into De Jong’s body after the Dutchman had gone down under a joint challenge from Antony and Wan-Bissaka, sparking a melee which brought him a booking.
De Gea prevented Barca from re-taking the lead when he tipped over Jules Kounde’s header from De Jong’s cross, and that was the cue for Ten Hag to make another offensive change by sending on Garnacho and Diogo Dalot.
Again it worked as United attacked and Antony struck.
His was the 19th goal scored by a United substitute in all competitions this season, a record unequalled anywhere in Europe.
Ten Hag is certainly getting the best of this United squad. Nothing seems beyond them right now.
SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk
