“I believe he will do better” Rio Ferdinand compares Manchester United forward to Carlos Tevez after magical display in Arsenal win

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was full of praise for Antony, Christian Eriksen and Marcus Rashford after the win over Arsenal.

Erik ten Hag’s fourth consecutive Premier League win at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon gave United a 3-1 victory and ended the Gunners’ perfect start to the season. Antony’s first goal, followed by a second-half brace from Marcus Rashford, was enough to secure all three points for the Dutchman’s side.

The Reds showed maturity under Ten Hag by absorbing enormous pressure throughout the game. United waited for their moments to counter-attack, and with aggressive passing from forwards such as Bruno Fernandes and Eriksen, they caught Arsenal out twice in the space of nine minutes to end the game.

After the game, Ferdinand revealed that he was initially sceptical about signing Eriksen this summer. On his YouTube channel, the former United player admitted as much while praising the 30-year-old’s performance.

He said: ‘Can I give a special shout-out, please, to my man of the match Christian Eriksen.

“I have to put my hand up, I was one of those who was a bit sceptical about this signing. But it’s another signing, I’m sure with Erik Ten Hag, it was his decision to take it. And at the moment you can’t argue with the decision he made.

“His passes, look he might not have helped all the goals, but his passes for two of the goals. Rashford’s pass, the first one when he wrapped it up with his eyes, took about five players from the Arsenal team, a big ball.

“The other one, where he plays it forward to Bruno. Bruno, with the outside of his foot, hands the ball to Rashford. And obviously the assist. His forward passes are the best in the league at the moment, it’s huge. So Eriksen, I salute you.”

Ferdinand also praised Rashford’s performance and gave his thoughts on why the United striker played so well.

He added: “Marcus Rashford today, one assist and two goals, and Marcus Rashford is still looking for the supreme confidence with which he came into the limelight.

“I think the catalyst for this performance is that he got back to basics. And that’s what we asked for. He went back to basics. He’s chasing balls into the keeper’s lost causes and that kind of thing reminds me and brings me back to Carlos Tevez a little bit.

“He was a player who would get the fans out of their seats for things like that. He would get the crowd going, he would create an atmosphere, he would get the other players in the team to say, ‘Right, we need to go too’. And if he can keep that in his game, the other things that he has: the quality, the ability to chase teams down and scare them, and then finish or put chances on a plate for others, then they come.

“But you have to do the hard things first. The things you probably don’t feel rewarded for are rewarded first, then the reward comes later. So I’m delighted for Marcus, I’m very happy. And how can we talk about that without talking about Antony, the new singer who comes in and hits. Antony comes on the scene, a great signing. I couldn’t have asked for a better start with a goal.