Manchester United forward Antony crashed his BMW sports car on a motorway on New Year’s Eve in a terrifying incident.
The Brazil international had played for Erik ten Hag’s side in their Premier League victory over Wolves earlier in the day before destroying his X6 in roadworks. The 20-year-old did not sustain any injuries in the accident but was left badly shaken, while no other individuals were involved.
Police arrived at the scene on the M56 near the Brazilian’s home in Hale, with the footballer passing a breathalyser test with his car recovered. Antony was left out of the United squad which claimed a comfortable win at Bournemouth three days later as he recovered from the incident.
Antony had ambiguously spoken of a “shock” off-field incident after Friday night’s FA Cup win over Everton, in which he had opened the scoring. That game represented a return to normality for the player after a tough start to the year.
"First of all it’s a feeling of joy, I’m happy to score again and especially at home. I’ve set some goals for me this season and it’ good to score as soon as I’ve start to think of personal goals. But of course the most important is United’s qualification," Antony told TNT Sports after the FA Cup clash on Friday.
"I also feel relieved as in the last few days I had a shock, but I prefer not to comment on what happened. It was a personal matter, really hard but I’m very grateful to God for putting this behind me now.
"Grateful to the club, to the players, to the manager to everyone that stayed by my side. It’s in the past now, I’m happy to score and I hope to keep going lie this because this is a year of a lot of achievements and wins.
"This is my mind-frame now, I’m 100% focused on honouring the fans and the club. We all know the size of this club we want to put United back where it deserves."
Antony added: "It was a really, really difficult moment for me. But God has always been by my side and I’m grateful also to my family. I dedicate this goal to them and it’s in moments like these that you know who really loves you."
A report from the Sun described Antony's car crash via a source, who said: "It was dark and wet and he made an error of judgement. He was shook up but thankfully no one else was involved and he wasn’t injured."
