Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez struggled in his club’s first game of the Premier League season but that wasn’t why he was hooked at half-time.
What is the latest Lisandro Martinez injury news?
To kick off the 2023/24 campaign, Erik ten Hag and his side welcomed Wolves to Old Trafford in what turned out to be a rather controversial fixture.
Indeed, while a single goal from Raphael Varane was enough to give Man United a 1-0 win, all the focus has been on the late drama caused by Andre Onana.
In the dying embers of the game, the new goalkeeper tried to punch clear a cross but ended up colliding with Wolves forward Sasa Kalajdzic and yet somehow avoided punishment from either referee Simon Hooper or VAR.
Opposition head coach Gary O’Neil was baffled by the incident, booked for his reaction, and then apologised to by PGMOL’s Jon Moss who conceded it was indeed a foul and the officials had made a mistake.
He said: “Jon Moss said it was a blatant penalty and should have been given – fair play to him, he apologised.”
However, despite all that second-half drama, there was also plenty of reason to focus on the performance of Martinez who really struggled in the first 45 minutes.
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After all, he made just one tackle, lost his only aerial duel, won just two of six attempted ground duels, was dribbled past twice, and failed to make a block, an interception, or a clearance (via SofaScore) when on the pitch – showing that he was hardly much use in the backline.
His ineffectiveness was highlighted in one particular passage of play too, as he was easily bypassed in the middle of the park by Matheus Cunha – this led to a great chance for Wolves, which you can see in the official highlights.
Why was Lisandro Martinez subbed at half-time vs Wolves?
Martinez also got a yellow card as he was – as per journalist Michael Plant, who gave him a 5/10 in the player ratings for Manchester World – “needlessly booked and beaten easily seconds before Sarabia fired wide, in what was a subpar showing from United’s no.6.”
And there was a belief this was why Ten Hag hooked Martinez at half-time. Adding to this, in the Manchester Evening News, journalist Samuel Luckhurst also slammed the played for a 5/10 display and noted: “Deservedly booked for a late lunge in the 17th minute, which was deemed enough of a risk for him not to re-emerge for the second half.”
However, manager Ten Hag has since stated why the 25-year-old was replaced by Victor Lindelof and it apparently has nothing to do with his form.
The Dutch managed explained (via Goal): “A little problem on his ankle, tendon. We’ll see but I don’t think it’s a big deal. We’ll see how he is this week.”
And so it remains to be seen how long exactly the defender will be out for, but it sounds as though the injury isn’t too bad.
Still, after this “subpar” display, perhaps Man United won’t actually be that desperate to get him right back out on the pitch again – although perhaps that knock explains why he was so poor against Wolves.
