Erik ten Hag should have responded to reports that he had lost control of the Old Trafford dressing room in only one way, and that was not by barring media from listening to his boring pre-game observations.

It was by telling his players they had a case to prove, that they were being pilloried by television’s most prominent experts, that his men were being pounded by respected ex-United leaders.

Antony had lamented in the run-up to this epic battle that none of those old boys had anything positive to say about him. There’s a simple answer to that: he’s rarely given them reason to say anything constructive.

To be constructive, you must first see signs of improvement in someone’s game, even if they are battling with form. And the costly Brazilian has shown few encouraging signs this season.

In some situations, there have been few signals that he is particularly eager to put in the hard yards – a scathing charge leveled against a number of his United teammates, two of whom, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, did not start this game.

But you couldn’t blame Antony’s effort against Chelsea, as he charged into duels with a ferocity that has been conspicuous by its absence far too frequently. He was undoubtedly busier than he had been in a long time, drawing fouls in dangerous positions and winning the early penalty that Bruno Fernandes rolled tamely at Robert Sanchez.

And, significantly, he had gained possession just before Scott McTominay’s well-executed opening goal. However, reservations regarding his final work are understandable.

Antony started ahead of Marcus Rashford against Chelsea.

The Arjen Robben pattern of cutting inside onto the heavily-favored left and attempting to curl one into the far corner is fine if accomplished well, but it rarely is with Antony. And he got himself into difficulties a few of occasions against Mauricio Pochettino’s side when other straightforward solutions were available.

But, regardless of the outcome against Chelsea, one of the most important things for Ten Hag – call it a significant side-issue – was that his players demonstrated that, despite appearing to down them at St James’ Park last Saturday, they picked up the tools again and went to work in the manner befitting a Manchester United player. And Antony, who only played for half an hour in Newcastle’s dismal performance, certainly did that.