Man Utd flop Antony sends message in star performance as Sir Jim Ratcliffe endures miserable night

Antony was Real Betis' inspiration as the Spanish side held Nottingham Forest to a 2-2 draw in the Europa League on Wednesday night. Ange Postecoglou's side dominated proceedings in Seville, but were denied victory by Antony's equaliser.

Antony left Manchester United in a £21.65million permanent deal on transfer deadline day, having enjoyed himself on loan in Spain last season. While he flopped following an £82m transfer from Ajax to United, the Brazilian has already become a hero at Betis.

Forest were celebrating a return to European football for the first time in nearly 30 years, but couldn't secure the first win of the Postecoglou era as the former Tottenham boss made it four games at his new club without victory. Forest striker Igor Jesus scored twice, yet it was Antony who had the last laugh.

The Betis winger first found Cedric Bakambu, who opened the scoring with a powerful finish into the roof of the net. Jesus equalised with a tap-in before putting Forest 2-1 up with a header from a corner.

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But Antony popped up at the back post in the 85th minute to equalise before celebrating by pointing to a tattoo on his neck which reads “iluminado" - a Portuguese word which translates as “illuminated” or “the chosen one”. Betis fans certainly won't be arguing with him after another crucial performance which means he has nearly passed his total of goals and assists for United in a fraction of the time with his new club.

United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe cited Antony as the sort of missteps in the transfer market that he wants to eliminate now Ineos have taken over the club. "If you look at the players we are buying this summer, that we didn't buy, we're buying Antony, we're buying Casemiro, we're buying [Andre] Onana, we're buying [Rasmus] Hojlund, we're buying [Jadon] Sancho," Ratcliffe told the BBC.

"These are all things from the past, whether we like it or not, we've inherited those things and have to sort that out. Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid. But for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time. We've got this period of transformation where we move from the past to the future."

United made a huge loss in selling Antony to Betis this summer and his performances in Spain won't please Ratcliffe if they continue. With United not playing in any European competition this season, having finished 15th in the Premier League last season and lost the Europa League final, the petrochemicals billionaire had to go elsewhere for his football fix on Wednesday.

Ratcliffe was spotted in the stands of his other club, Nice, but it wasn't happy viewing for him in the south of France either. Nice were beaten 2-1 by Roma in the Europa League thanks to goals from Evan Ndicka and Gianluca Mancini.

United will be back in action this weekend against Brentford when Ratcliffe will hope they can build on their 2-1 win over Chelsea. He may secretly be hoping that Antony's form for Sevilla stalls, while Onana, Hojlund and Sancho will be trying to prove him wrong while on loan at Trabzonspor, Napoli and Aston Villa respectively.

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