“Just for the record” - Neal Maupay aims dig at Manchester United star Antony for pulling out controversial celebration vs Coventry
Brentford forward Neal Maupay has taken a dig at Manchester United winger Antony following the latter's celebration after his side beat Coventry City.
United progressed into their second straight FA Cup final after beating the Championship team 4-2 on penalties at Wembley on Sunday, April 21. Having led the match 3-0 in the 70th minute, the Red Devils conceded twice in the next 10 minutes before Haji Wright's penalty (90+5') sent the game into extra-time.
Coventry scored in the 120th minute, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Manchester United then won the contest after Diogo Dalot, Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes and Rasmus Hojlund converted their spot-kicks following Casemiro's miss.
When the result was confirmed, Antony, who came off the bench in the second half, was seen cupping his ears while facing the Coventry fans. This brought him criticism from all corners and Maupay has now taken a dig at him as well.
Resharing a post of the video by @BBCMOTD, the Brentford man wrote on X:
"Just for the record, not even I would do this 😭"
Maupay is notably known across the league for taunting oppositions and fans. In January, he recreated James Maddison's dart-throwing celebration after scoring against Tottenham Hotspur.
This prompted an angry reaction from Maddison, who claimed post-match that Maupay hasn't scored enough goals to have a celebration of his own. Maupay responded on Instagram by saying he has more career goals and fewer relegations than Maddison, who went down with Leicester City last season.
More recently, the former France U21 international taunted Scott McTominay with an image from Brentford's 1-1 draw with Manchester United last month. In the photo, McTominay can be seen pulling Maupay's shirt while the duo tussled for the ball. The latter posted the photo on X with the caption:
"This fan was desperate for my shirt 😂"
Manchester United star Antony slammed by former players for celebration against Coventry
As mentioned earlier, Neal Maupay isn't the first one to criticize Antony for his ear-cupping celebration against Coventry City in the FA Cup.
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand took to X a day after the match to slam the Brazilian, writing:
"Antony yesterday…. Embarrasing!"
Liverpool legend Graeme Souness was also unimpressed by Antony's antics and said on talkSPORT (via Metro):
"Manchester United are a class act. But for a player to act like that it’s naff, it’s like you just don’t do that as a Man United player. It wasn’t Real Madrid you’ve just knocked out. It was Coventry, a team from the Championship. It’s not the first time I’ve seen it from him, doing daft stuff."
Former Coventry City and Crystal Palace forward Clinton Morrison took to BBC Radio 5 Live to criticize the Manchester United man, saying (via the Daily Mail):
"He needs to concentrate on himself because he could be playing [in] the Championship next season."
Antony notably played 54 minutes against Coventry, recording no shots on target from four attempts. He also won just two of his seven duels, though he did complete 25 of his 28 passes.
Overall, the 24-year-old has played 34 times across competitions for United this season and has registered only two goals and two assists.