Erik ten Hag vowed to correct any Manchester United players doing skills for the sake of it after Antony’s superfluous spins in the Europa League win over Sheriff Tiraspol.
United wrapped up qualification for the knockout phase with a game to spare as Diogo Dalot, Marcus Rashford and the returning Cristiano Ronaldo scored in Thursday’s 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
The result sets up a Group E showdown at Real Sociedad next Thursday, when failure to usurp the Spanish leaders in the standings will mean a knockout play-off against one of the Champions League dropouts.
But one of the main talking points after beating Sheriff was Antony’s double spin skill in the first half – something several pundits branded “embarrassing” after the summer signing then put the ball out of play.
Ten Hag, who went on to take the Brazil international off at half-time, said: “I don’t have a problem with that as long as it’s functional.