Alejandro Garnacho has praised Antony after the Manchester United loanee scored his first goal for Real Betis. Antony, who joined the La Liga side on loan from United last month, found the back of the net during their 3-2 defeat against Celta Vigo on Saturday.

Antony, 24, gave Betis the lead inside the opening 10 minutes. A loose ball fell to the Brazilian inside the box and he did the rest, curling the ball into the bottom corner. That was Antony's first goal since scoring for United against Barnsley in the Carabao Cup in September.

Former Leeds United defender Diego Llorente doubled Betis' advantage in the 22nd minute and Manuel Pellegrini's side looked in cruise control. However, Betis collapsed in the second half with Celta scoring three times to turn the game on its head and secure a dramatic 3-2 win.

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In an Instagram post after the match, Antony admitted it was a "day full of emotions" and said his side "deserved more" after leading 2-0 at the break and dominating the first half.

Antony, who has 10.2million followers, wrote: "A day full of emotions. Happy for my first goal with Betis, but sad with the result, after being ahead. We deserved more, we wanted more. We will continue working hard to get victories and correct our mistakes for the next matches! @realbetisbalompie @laliga."

In the comments section, several United players delivered a message to Antony. One of those was Alejandro Garnacho, who lauded the former Ajax man. He said: "You are great bro," along with two love heart emojis.

Bruno Fernandes wrote: "Goal," alongside a fire emoji, while Joshua Zirkzee put two love heart emojis. Matheus Cunha, who has been linked with a move to United, commented with a love heart and fire emoji.

Defeat for Betis was their fourth in six matches and the pressure is increasing on ex-Manchester City boss Pellegrini. Speaking after losing against Celta, the Chilean said: "Our defensive second half was lacking.

"Celta is a strong offensive team that plays well and seeks the goal. We lost control of the ball and became too cautious with our 2-0 lead. The second half was quite frustrating from a footballing perspective, in stark contrast to our first-half display. Perhaps we should have pursued a third goal instead."