Antony has defended his decision to taunt Coventry City players following Manchester United's narrow penalty shootout victory in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final.

United remarkably let a three-goal lead slip at Wembley, and then survived a Video Assistant Referee call in extra time which ruled out a Coventry winner, before sneaking past the Championship side on spot kicks.

Rasmus Hojlund scored the decisive penalty and Antony's immediate reaction was to run in front of the opposition cupping his ears as team-mate Harry Maguire instead consoled the Coventry players.

Rio Ferdinand was one of many to criticise Antony's reaction, describing the incident as "embarassing".

But the £86million forward, who has zero goals in 25 Premier League appearances this season, has faced widespread criticism for his action, insists he was "defending" his club from "provocation".

"Coventry proved why they reached the semi-final," he posted on X. "We seeked this spot in the final for our fans and we achieved.

"The way our fans were treated by their player was not nice and I, in the heat of the moment, reacted to the provocations in a natural defence of my club!"

Antony was echoing his manager's version of events. Erik ten Hag said earlier on Tuesday: "[Antony] was [provoked] and should not react like this. You have not seen the provocation, only the reaction, but he should not do it.

"We should acknowledge the performance of Coventry, coming back at 70 minutes when we dominated the game. The game must be closed, but the comeback from their side was very good."