Manchester United were just minutes away from securing an impressive win at Stamford Bridge against Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea.

In the end, Jose Mourinho’s men had to settle for a draw as Ross Barkley scored a dramatic late equaliser for the London giants.

In United’s last two games, they’ve shown plenty of fight and determination as they’ve come from behind twice and secured positive results. In particular they’ve impressed on the front foot in the second half of both fixtures and when the attack is given a freedom to have a go, they look very dangerous.

French forward Anthony Martial has looked extremely bright in these latest fixtures and, for me, he should keep that left wing role for the time being.

Mourinho has had various run-ins with the young attacker but the twenty-two year old scored a brace today and he also grabbed his side’s vital equalising strike against Newcastle United a few weeks back.

I think it’s fair to say that Alexis Sanchez hasn’t had the best of times of it since the Chilean signed for United in January. He’s looked off pace and he hasn’t been the creative force he was previously at Arsenal.

Alexis’ arrival meant a Man United starting eleven reshuffle and ultimately it was Anthony Martial who made way for Sanchez. The disappointing thing  about that was that Martial had just started to get going on the left-wing and he was becoming a big threat in his new position. That all went to pot when he got dropped and the player then went into sulk mode.

Yet when the chips were really down for United and Mourinho, Martial returned to the first team and he’s answered the call with some neat finishes and the ability to run at defenders and get the opposition on the back foot.

It happened plenty of times against Chelsea today, his pace on the counter attack caused The Blues multiple problems.

His greatest contribution was obviously his goals. The important element we can’t ignore about his strikes, is that fact they both came from inside the penalty area. Martial is at his best when he is allowed to attack and when he can get into the opposition’s box. Mourinho sometimes wants too much from his wide forward players. The Portuguese gaffer wants them to constantly work back when the other team has the ball and that kind of style can stifle the French international. Going forward Martial can be unstoppable but he won’t win you any games if he’s constantly thinking he has to chase down fullbacks.

Anthony’s first goal today was a driven in shot after the ball came to him via a rebound, his ability to remain calm under pressure was vital in this instance. His second was straight out of the Thierry Henry finishing playbook, which Martial is quickly perfecting. He received the ball on the lefthand side of the area, he then takes a touch inside before he curls the ball around a Chelsea defender and expertly into the far away corner.

The fact is that Martial is just more ruthless and hungry than Sanchez is at the moment. That means he’s far more dangerous to opponents and he’ll make greater impacts on the game. So far this term, Anthony has outscored Alexis and has a passing success rate which is 10% higher than his attacking counterpart.

The French star has a point to prove and if Jose Mourinho is smart, then he’ll give the forward plenty of playing time to prove that point with goals and assists.

Posted on October 20th, 2018 by scott
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