Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has praised Antony following his outstanding goal against Real Betis on Thursday night.

The Brazilian came in for a lot of criticism after his poor performance in the 7-0 defeat to Liverpool last weekend, but Martinez feels the winger’s confidence would have been boosted after his display midweek:

“[Antony] is really good, a really good player with a lot of quality, his skills are amazing. I’m happy for him because [it gives him] confidence, which is very important, but I’m really happy [with] the job of the team.”

There is no doubt that Antony has found it hard to live up to the fee paid for him last summer. When you shell out £86m on a player, you do expect a lot and the 23-year-old hasn’t really delivered so far.

Goals, such as the one against Betis, do offer a reminder of what the forward can do, but those have been fleeting moments of quality. If the Brazilian international is to win over the whole fanbase, he will need to be a lot more consistent.

Hopefully, over the coming months, Antony can start to prove the doubters wrong by performing week in and week out for United.