Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has pinpointed his side’s weakness from set-pieces as the primary reason behind their loss against Bournemouth.
United fell to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Cherries on Sunday afternoon at Old Trafford.
Dean Huijsen broke the deadlock just before the half-hour mark, as he headed in a free-kick delivery. Justin Kluivert doubled Bournemouth’s advantage 11 minutes after the break from the spot-kick. The referee awarded the hosts the penalty after Noussair Mazraoui brought down Kluivert inside the box.
Moments after they went 2-0 up, Antoine Semenyo put the game to bed, getting on the end of a cutback to ensure there was no chance of the Red Devils mounting a comeback.
The result has left Ruben Amorim’s men in 13th position in the Premier League, with just 22 points to their name.
For the first time in their Premier League history, United will be in the bottom half of the table on Christmas Day.
After the final whistle, Martinez spoke to BBC Match of the Day and said about the performance and result, “I always say in this kind of situation we have to show personality and character.”
“We are playing so well and unfortunately, we couldn’t score today. We have to believe. At this club, we have to win every game and we know that.”
“We are so angry with this kind of situation. We have to work on set-pieces especially. I believe a lot in this team and staff. if they don’t score their first goal from set-pieces then it is a totally different game.”
“We missed many chances today. We have to score. We know what we have to do and we have to change quickly.”
“We know how big it is at this club. The expectation is very high, it’s a process and you can see we are playing so well but we also concede goals and we have to work on that.”
The Argentina international added, “I know the fans are impatient with us. We are the only ones who can change it.”
“It’s football and we have to accept it. We are 100% confident that we will get success in this club. It’s a process, I don’t want to point the finger at one player. We win together, we lose together. It is a big pressure but we love that. I believe a lot in this group.”
United are back in action on Boxing Day when the travel to Molineux Stadium to face Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Featured image Matt McNulty via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
