Diego Dalot Heaps Praises On Antony For Assisting Him In Scoring His First Premier League Goal Against Forest
Diogo Dalot explains the unique goal celebration with Antony during the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest win on Sunday evening.
The Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot netted his first ever Premier League goal after he produced a well composed finish to seal the important three points for the Red Devils.
It happened that Antony who had struggled to live up to expectations after following Ten Hag to arrive at Old Trafford in a blockbuster £85million move from Ajax in the summer, managed to silence some of his critics.
The 23-year-old ended his draught by scoring the first goal in the 32nd minute of the encounter at the City Ground, which was the Brazilian's first Premier League goal since October.
As if that wasn't enough, Antony went on to set up the second for Dalot, it was also Antony's first assist in the league, as they secure the much needed victory over Steve Cooper's relegation-threatened side.
Dalot, 24, had only scored twice for United prior to the weekend, with both coming in cup competitions, and he admitted that his maiden league strike was a "special" moment.
The Portuguese right-back, certainly made the most of his first league goal by pulling off a number of celebrations. Not one celebration, not two, not three, but approximately FOUR different celebrations, but it was his special handshake with Antony, that captured the most interest.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, the Dalot said: “It was special, the moment of the goal was important as well, 2-0 made it more comfortable.”
He was also quick to reserve praises on Antony for his wonderful assist which led to the goal.
When he was asked about his handshake with Antony after scoring, the full-back told reporters: “It’s our thing, I’m happy I have a good relationship with him, he’s a fantastic kid, I like to be around him."
"We spoke today that he was going to score, we were not expecting I was going to score as well, we both did and we were happy with that."
Dalot also added that Antony is slowly but surely settling in.
"I think everybody is seeing he’s getting his rewards now," the defender explained.
"He works very hard every day to be at this top level. He fights for the team, he is a team player for sure I think everybody can see that and he’s getting his rewards. I’m sure he will be very helpful for us, today he showed with the goal and the assist that he’s a very important player for us.
"I tried my best to help Antony adapt, I was not the main character on his journey so far, he was and he still is, but I think everybody helped him to get comfortable. He knew the manager already, so he knew how he likes to play and how he wants to play, we tried to help him settle in quickly and we’re very happy with him."
Antony has faced some fierce criticism from pundits and fans alike this season, but had made them to have a rethink after bagging a goal and an assist against Forest, taking his tally for goal contributions to 14 in all competitions this season.
Manager Erik ten Hag has refused to criticise the winger all this while, and has repeatedly defended his performances, pointing out how effective the forward has been.
Ten Hag further hailed Antony for keeping Man United on course for a top-four finish, but the Dutchman wants the 23-year-old to be more consistent.
“I defended him,” Ten Hag said of Antony after the match.
“He knows, I know as well, that when you're a striker, you need an end product. But already he had quite a lot of end product, he scored in all competitions now. Eight goals in his first year United is not bad and there are still games to go.
“But he has to do it. I can't say in every game, but in many games, if you want to be a top-class player and especially in all the competitions. He has to step up. Today was an example where with both goals, he made the right decision.”
Ten Hag added; "The goal he scored, he was in the right spot, in the right moment to get the rebound."
"The second goal was a great team goal, how we built that up, the way Antony did it to bring the pass in the right moment and the movement from Diogo was fantastic, it was good to see."
United move back up into third, and are now six points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham with a game in hand. They will travel to Spain this Thursday for the return leg of their Europa League quarter-final clash with Sevilla, and the score is level at 2-2 after they had earlier thrown away a two goal lead at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils are currently without several key players, including top scorer Marcus Rashford and first-choice central defensive pairing of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane.
Martinez is out for the season, while Ten Hag is also missing Luke Shaw, Marcel Sabitzer, Scott McTominay, Tyrell Malacia, Donny van de Beek and Alejandro Garnacho.
Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, have seven huge Premier League games remaining, starting with their trip to Anfield to face Liverpool this Saturday.
The bad news for Forest fans is they must also play Arsenal and Chelsea before the end of the season, as well as Brighton and Brentford who are seriously chasing for a place in Europe next season.
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