Praises will be sung of the goalscorers in Man Utd’s derby win, but Lisandro Martinez deserves immense credit for his titanic display.
Lisandro Martinez became an unexpected centre of attention before the Manchester derby due to some comments from Nicky Butt, which were extremely harsh and uncalled for.
Without giving the original comments even more coverage, it had to do with Erling Haaland easily dominating the Argentine without breaking a sweat, only in language that is not expected of “fans”.
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By the end of Man Utd’s 2-0 win over City, Martinez put that claim to rest, and it was summed up by what happened in the 62nd minute.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty ImagesLisandro Martinez vs Erling Haaland in the Manchester derby
Butt’s comments weren’t just harsh, they were ill-informed, because even historically, Martinez has always had the better of Haaland.
Going back to the defender’s days at Ajax, he has nullified Haaland’s threat expertly by sticking close to him and denying him any chances at the source.
It was more of the same in the derby win as well, but Butt was left looking particularly foolish because of what happened in the 62nd minute.
Butt joked about the physical mismatch of Haaland vs Martinez, but in the 62nd minute, the defender showed how unfounded that criticism was.
City had just cleared the ball away aerially and looked for Haaland, who was sticking close to Martinez in a duel because he sensed an opportunity.
What happened next left Old Trafford applauding, as Martinez bodied Haaland out of the way without breaking a sweat, and set United on their way to keep attacking.
Lisandro Martinez silenced the critics to dominate Erling Haaland AGAIN
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Haaland didn’t even have a shot on target the entire game, and he was subbed off in the 80th minute to the delight of Man Utd fans.
Martinez had a lot to do with that predicament.
There has been plenty of talk about how the ex-players-turned-pundits contribute to an environment of toxicity around Old Trafford.
That is certainly true to an extent, but current players with an elite mentality can also use that as fuel to prove them wrong and take their performance up a further notch.
Martinez did that when the lights were the brightest and the stakes were highest, and that is an example of how “silencing doubters” is a great motivation.
The ex-players might want the best for the club, but they increasingly don’t go about it the right way, so it is up to the current players to make the best of it.
Martinez did so against City, and that should set the tone for the future for his teammates.
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