Manchester United have developed an unexpected attacking threat in Ruben Amorim's system

Lisandro Martinez will savour his sweetly struck goal at Anfield more than his deflected effort at Fulham, even if the latter proved to be a late match-winner. As the Argentine admitted afterwards, it owed a fair bit to good fortune and a wicked deflection off Sasa Lukic.

At Anfield, it was a goal all of Martinez's own. His fierce left-footed shot crashed in off the bar to give United an unexpected lead in a game they would eventually draw. Having scored one in his first 84 appearances for United, Martinez now has two goals in his last five matches.

It could have been more too. He forced Jack Butland into a good save in the Europa League win against Rangers last week, and what is noticeable about all of those chances is that they are coming from open play rather than set-pieces, which is usually the route to goal for a central defender.

At Old Trafford last Thursday, he strode forward with the ball in that left-side channel and unleashed a long-range effort. Against Liverpool and Fulham, he was proactive in stepping in front of a forward to win the ball back and then continuing his run into the final third.

After scoring at Craven Cottage, Martinez explained how he picks his moments to join the attack and the confidence he now feels when he does try his luck.

"You just have to read the situation and the right timing, when you are with confident the goal will go in," he said. "I went with 100% of my confidence and the ball goes in, that’s it."

Martinez is beginning to pick his moments more and more. Ruben Amorim has made no secret of his desire to have more training ground time to drill this squad in his 3-4-2-1 system, and Martinez's attacking runs are a threat that has been developed in synchronicity with the system.

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