David De Gea fires dig at Antony as ex-Man Utd team-mate gets one over on him

Antony scored against ex-Manchester United team-mate David de Gea on Thursday as their new clubs, Real Betis and Fiorentina, faced off in the semi-finals of the Conference League

Antony was on the end of a cheeky swipe from David de Gea after scoring against his former Manchester United team-mate. Antony’s Real Betis and De Gea’s Fiorentina met in the semi-finals of the Conference League on Thursday.

Still on loan from United, Antony scored Betis’ second goal in their 2-1 home win. Not only was it notable for being his 10th goal contribution in 19 appearances for the LaLiga side, it was a rare strike with his right foot.

The Brazilian winger has often been described as one-footed, much preferring to play with his left during his disastrous two-and-a-half years at United. But Antony gave his critics food for thought after his powerful strike.

United’s £86million flop, who could join Betis permanently this summer, initially tried a shot with his left foot before it was blocked by a diving Fiorentina player. The ball came back to Antony and after a bounce, he instinctively smashed it with his right.

The unsighted De Gea couldn’t get to the shot which arrowed into the top left-hand corner. After the final whistle, the ex-United goalkeeper admitted that he was surprised.

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“I trained with him 1,000 times and he never scored a goal with his right foot in any training session,” De Gea told Movistar Plus after sharing a moment with Antony post-match. “But now he’s confident and is showing the player he is.

“I haven’t seen the shot in any matches, I think a player was in front of it and I couldn’t see it, but he hit it well with his right foot. I’m happy for him because he was coming from a difficult moment at United and now he’s showing the best of himself.”

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Antony’s side hold the advantage heading into next Thursday’s second leg in Italy. The winner of the tie will likely face Chelsea in the final in the Polish city of Wroclaw on Wednesday, May 28, as the Premier League giants beat Swedish outfit Djurgardens 4-1.

Fiorentina have hope of a comeback thanks to captain Luca Ranieri. The son of Roma boss Claudio capitalised on a mistake from Betis to pull a goal back and make it 2-1.

“That goal gives us life, we didn’t play the best game in the world,” De Gea added. “We had one or two chances but in general Betis were superior. At home we’ll come out stronger.”

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