Martial dazzles Sevilla but durability still a concern for Manchester United

D id Manchester United’s late capitulation begin when Erik ten Hag took off Anthony Martial on 63 minutes? This may be a simplification, particularly as Bruno Fernandes also accompanied him, but until then those in red were coasting at 2-0 up with the forward providing a star turn.

Twelve minutes in and United were given a glimmer of what they have missed from an enigmatic Frenchman bedevilled by injury: the sight of him dropping deep and bursting past defenders, a dazzling dribble splaying Sevilla and creating an opening for Antony.

This was Martial: remember him? Or, rather, remember the last time he started and ended a match? If the answer is no, that is understandable: before tonight you had to scroll back through 19 months and four (permanent and temporary) managers – Ten Hag, Ralf Rangnick, Michael Carrick and Ole Gunnar Solskjær – to Wednesday 22 September 2021 to find the last time Martial completed 90 minutes for the club, when he played all of a Carabao Cup defeat to West Ham.

Even if the second half of last season can be scrubbed out of that sequence given that Martial was on loan at Sevilla, it is still a dire record; the consequence of a fragile physique that has caused him five separate problems alone since pre-season.

Here he lined up under the midweek lights for only an eighth appearance of 2023 and a first start since the derby victory over Manchester City in mid-January. If ill fortune is the true factor, there are those who ponder whether a questionable mentality that leaves him open to regular sicknotes is actually at play.

The absence of Marcus Rashford through injury made Sevilla’s visit the apt time for a brave new Martial world in which he could prove a robust force who could be relied on to