Manchester United’s horrifically poor form continued on Monday night as they fell to a 2-0 loss to Newcastle United.
It was a bitter end to 2024 for Ruben Amorim’s side, registering their fourth consecutive loss in all competitions.
While Man United’s performance improved significantly in the second half, the damage was already done, with the team going 2-0 down just 19 minutes into the match.
Although the entire team should shoulder the blame for what was an embarrassing loss, Lisandro Martinez was at the centre of United’s defensive failures.
Just four minutes into the match, striker Aleksander Isak broke through United’s defence, sprinting into the box and heading his shot into the net. Both Harry Maguire and Martinez failed to mark the Swede, who happened to be sandwiched between them.
In the 19th minute, Martinez was even more central to his side’s defensive slip-up. Tasked with marking Joelinton, the Newcastle midfielder simply had to produce a marginal jump to outleap Martinez and comfortably head the ball past Andre Onana.
While Martinez’s performance couldn’t be judged solely on his errors, there were few performance metrics that redeemed him in what was a poor match for the centre-back.
Managing just two defensive actions the entire match, Martinez performed one interception while blocking one shot. Embarrassingly, he made zero tackles and no clearances.
Martinez lost both of his ground duels as well as his only aerial duel of the match, which, as previously mentioned, resulted in a goal for the opposition.
Perhaps his one redeeming quality was his passing. Martinez completed 91% of his passes, with 67 of 74 reaching their intended target.
He made one key pass and completed five of his eight long balls.
Given his latest in a series of poor performances, it is becoming unclear as to whether Martinez is the right fit for Amorim’s United side.
He will need to improve his performances significantly over the near term if he hopes to convince United fans of his worth going forward while cementing his place in the starting 11.
(Stats via Sofascore)
Featured Image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Mathew Cohen
A faithful Manchester United supporter, Mathew has worked as a football writer and analyst for SB Nation, FanSided, and now The Peoples Person. Mathew’s heroes include David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Sir Alex Ferguson, all of whom played their part in creating some special childhood memories.
