Lisandro Martinez's combination with Cristiano Ronaldo gave Manchester United their breakthrough

One change for the derby?

The XI Erik ten Hag selected was as expected and the strongest on form and player availability. Nine of the starters will head off on international duty in the coming days and, barring injury, almost all of them should start against Manchester City in two weeks on Sunday.

Had Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial been in Moldova, one of them would have likely lined up ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, an impatient performer against Real Sociedad last week who got off the mark for the campaign with his penalty.

Rashford has started all six of United's Premier League games and tallied three goals and two assists in his last four games. Rashford's muscular injury affords him greater time to recover for the derby at the Etihad, where he has scored twice in Manchester red.

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Overlooking Casemiro against City's fleet-footed midfielders may seem dicey but the tempo would be the highest he has ever witnessed in a game and if Casemiro is to make the XI it would not necessarily be at McTominay's expense.

Martinez breaks the lines for breakthrough

Lisandro Martinez's pass for Ronaldo in the 15th minute did not lead to a goal as Ronaldo tumbled desperately, but it was as good a breakthrough for United. They scored two minutes later through Jadon Sancho.

Martinez's distribution and ability to play line-breaking passes that either start or accelerate attacks is as much of an asset as his uncompromising defending. Ten Hag will have intimate knowledge of that from developing Martinez at Ajax and the Argentinian plays as cultured as a Dutchman.

The Ajax scouting report of Martinez from January 2017 was prescient: "He plays as a left center back and has a good technique with