The £54m-rated man who starred in the Manchester derby – opinion | OneFootball

Manchester United pulled off a surprisingly dominant display against consecutive Premier League champions and rivals Manchester City on Saturday, coming out 2-1 winners.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s counter-attacking style suited the visitors perfectly as they sliced open Pep Guardiola’s side at will with rapid tempo transitions. Anthony Martial produced a particularly exceptional performance, having been rested mid-week in the victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

The Frenchman, valued at £54m (Transfermarkt), devastated the opposition defence going forward with his pace and movement, exploiting the gaps left when both full-back bombed forwards for Guardiola’s side. While in possession the winger was particularly efficient at keeping hold of the ball, making 86.7 per cent of his 15 passes successfully. Furthermore, one of those passes was key, leading to a goal-scoring opportunity. Also, when he did make a single long pass, it reached its intended target.

But where Martial was most successful was from shooting opportunities, only Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford made the same number of shots, three, and while Lingard had more on target, unlike Martial he did not find the back of the net. The goal by the French winger ultimately decided the encounter, and it was particularly impressive, beating Ederson at his near post, arrowed into the bottom right-hand corner with pinpoint accuracy.

One complaint of Martials performance was that he twice miss controlled the ball, leading to conceding possession to the opposition, but considering Manchester United were playing at such an unbelievably high tempo, it is not a surprise. The Red Devils striker failed to make many defensive contributions, providing just a single tackle. Still, considering his role, where he was attempting to get in behind the opposition backline, that was not too surprising.

Overall it was an excellent display for Martial, who most will have given his manager a second thought about dropping him to the bench. Marcus Rashford stepped up against Tottenham Hotspur to ensure victory, and while this display was more of a team effort, Martial was the main man upfront for Manchester United on Saturday.