Shocking decision: Erik ten Hag reveals why he chose Man Utd flop ahead of fan favourite in Fenerbahce draw
Manchester United and Fenerbahce battled to a 1-1 draw in their Europa League encounter in Turkey.
The Red Devils took the lead in the 15th minute, courtesy of Christian Eriksen. Youssef En-Nesyri put Fenerbahce level four minutes into the second half.
Erik ten Hag brought on Antony in the 73rd minute for Marcus Rashford with United searching for a winner.
It was a surprising move as Amad Diallo remained on the bench.
The United manager revealed the reason behind his choice of substitution after the game.
He said (via Laurie Whitwell of the Athletic): “Amad, he is doing well. But I must also reward the performance of Antony in training, he is a threat almost every training, so I felt at that moment to bring him, to decide the game.
The head coach further showed compassion for the Brazilian as he was stretchered off due to an injury.
He said (via ManUtd.com): “It’s really unlucky for him. I feel real compassion for him, when he worked so hard in training.
“His training performances are that good that he deserved to come on. When you have to come off so quickly, that is really sad to see.
“Hopefully, it’s not too bad, we have to wait 24 hours for what the assessment is.”
Amad Diallo will be frustrated after being left out again
With Bruno Fernandes suspended from this clash, many expected Ten Hag to start Diallo at the number 10 position.
The 22-year-old played in the central attacking position before becoming a right winger during his early days at Atalanta.
To everyone’s surprise, the United head coach selected Noussair Mazraoui to replace Fernandes.
United were hunting for a goal to register their first European win of this campaign.
It was shocking to see Antony coming on before Diallo. The Brazilian international did not stay on the pitch for long as he suffered a serious injury.
He was taken off on a stretcher which forced Ten Hag to introduce Diallo at the 89th minute.
Antony played only four accurate passes in his 16-minute cameo and lost both of his ground duels. He failed to take a shot or create a big chance for United.
He has been a flop since his big-money move from Ajax and a new injury won’t help his cause.
Diallo looked furious when he was coming on with Rene Hake passing some instructions to him.
Hopefully, the fan favourite keeps his head straight and waits for his chance to reclaim his starting spot.
Stats from sofascore.com
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