Former £85m United man avoids second red card in a matter of days in latest controversy

Former Manchester United winger Antony has continued to have an eventful time in Spain. United career The Brazilian joined United in the summer of 2022 for an eye-watering £85 million. Despite making a positive start with three goals in his opening three games, Antony flattered to deceive in his debut season. Unfortunately, this was as good as it was going to get for the Brazilian as he desperately struggled in 2023-2024 and barely had a kick in the 2024-2025 season. Career revival in Spain Owing to a lack of game time, Antony was loaned out to La Liga side Real Betis in the January window last season and took Spain by storm. He scored a multitude of world-class strikes and helped lead his team to Europa League football and reaching the final of the Conference League. As a result, Antony finally made a permanent transfer to Betis in the summer for €25 million. He has continued to make an impression in Andalusia, scoring six goals and providing three assists in 13 matches this season. Red card controversy The 25 year old was given a red card at the weekend versus Girona when attempting an overhead kick. Betis were outraged by the decision and appealed to La Liga in an attempt to rescind the red card but this was rejected. Lucky escape Antony’s discipline issues followed him in Betis’ 2-1 win victory over Utrecht in the Europa League last night. TalkSPORT report that, “former Manchester United winger Antony escaped a red card during Real Betis’ Europa League game with Utrecht.” They go on to describe that “the Brazilian got into a tussle with left-back Souffian El Karouani and appeared to headbutt his opponent as he looked to chase onto a loose ball.” Antony initially avoided any on-field discipline but the incident was then looked at by VAR. Nonetheless, the referee’s decision was supported despite clean contact with the Utrecht player. To make matters worse for the Eredivisie side, Antony created the opening goal of the night for Cucho Hernandez. Antony Real Betis stats SeasonAppearancesGoalsAssistsMinutes 2024/202526952133 2025/202613631083 Source: transfermarkt.com Featured image Fran Santiago via Getty Images – The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.