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.
The Brazilian didn’t start the second leg of this Europa League play-off. But his introduction at half-time helped to breathe new life into United as his compatriot Fred cancelled out Robert Lewandowski’s penalty within two minutes of the restart.
Then in the 73rd minute came the decisive moment of this momentous tie. Luke Shaw kept the ball in play in front of the Stretford End and Bruno Fernandes – as influential as he was unpredictable here – teed 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 as he guided the ball 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.
Antony (R) completed a sensational second-half turnaround for Manchester United against Barcelona on Thursday night
Robert Lewandowski initially opened the scoring for Barcelona in their Europa League play-off tie against the Red Devils
Lewandowski swept home a penalty to move Barca 3-2 ahead on aggregate after Bruno Fernandes fouled Alejandro Balde
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 mid-October. And United who go into Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Newcastle on a massive high.
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 and all his players deserve credit. Over the two legs, they were the better team.
Ten Hag had been building up to this one the moment the final whistle had sounded on Sunday’s win over Leicester here, rallying the crowd as he left the pitch at Old Trafford before making dinner arrangements with Ferguson in midweek.
There was no need to gee up the fans again as the excitement began building around the stadium long before kick-off for a game that felt bigger than the prize up for grabs.
‘This is a big game, the whole of Europe is watching – it’s like a Champions League game,’ said Ten Hag before kick-off.
The only disappointment was that United weren’t starting with an advantage after playing so well in a pulsating first leg at the Nou Camp last week.
Ten Hag again opted for a 4-1-4-1 formation to try and cramp Barca’s style in midfield, but this time used Wout Weghorst as a more conventional striker.
It meant that United lacked the kind of penetration they have with Marcus Rashford in the same role, and their best chance of a disappointing first half came and went in the third minute.
Casemiro spotted Fernandes unmarked on the right and swung a pass into the path of the Portuguese as he galloped through. Fernandes had Weghorst and Jadon Sancho inside him but decided to go for goal himself from a difficult angle, and Ter Stegen saved with his right leg. It wasn’t the only poor judgement Fernandes showed before half-time.
Barca responded moments later with a slick move that ended with Raphinha firing narrowly over, and already it had the same feeling as the first leg.
The key difference was that United weren’t able to assert the same control or pose the same threat as they did at the Nou Camp in the opening 45 minutes.
Veteran Champions League campaigner Sergio Busquets, returning from injury to lead his team, brought an air of calm to the Catalans and De Jong worked overtime to snuff out any danger.
Fernandes had previously spurned a glorious early chance to fire United ahead on such a crucial night at Old Trafford
But United turned the game on its head after the interval, with Fred drawing them level two minutes after the restart
Fred’s superb strike from long distance made it 3-3 on aggregate and shifted momentum back in the home side’s favour
That was before Antony struck the all-important winner for Erik ten Hag’s men with a curling effort in the 73rd minute
The 22-year-old was the hero for United in Manchester, sending them into the Europa League round of 16 at Barca’s expense
Aaron Wan-Bissaka got past Busquets on one occasion but over-hit his pass, and Fred almost caught out Ter Stegen as his first-time cross drifted onto the roof of the net. But that was about it.
Having caused such chaos in Spain, Rashford was a peripheral figure. The only time he caused any real trouble came in the fifth minute when he was upended on the edge of the box by a clumsy challenge from Busquets.
French referee Clement Turpin took no action, which was a bit of a sore point after Italian official decided against showing Jules Kounde a red card for his challenge on Rashford in a similar area of the pitch in the first leg.
The anger of United fans turned to fury when Turpin pointed to the penalty spot at the other end in the 16th minute. In fairness to the officials, Fernandes should have known better than to hook Alejandro Balde’s left arm as he chased a loose ball to the edge of the box after Raphael Varane had headed clear from Raphinha’s cross. Balde was moving away from goal and posing little danger which made Fernandes’ challenge all the more puzzling.
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 sent on Antony for Weghorst at the interval, playing Rashford through the middle and injecting more pace down the flanks.
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 the United skipper a booking.
De Gea prevented Barca from re-taking the lead when he tipped over 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 paid off. United attacked, Antony scored and Old Trafford went crazy.
Barca leave Manchester crestfallen despite being 45 minutes away from reaching the next stage of the competition
Ten Hag will be delighted with United’s second-half turnaround, which gives them momentum ahead of the Carabao Cup final
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