Erik ten Hag has continued to add to his pre-season friendships through wins since he took over on the Manchester United bench. After beating Liverpool 4-0 in Bangkok (Thailand) and Melbourne Victory 1-4, now the ‘red devils’ have once again beaten another Premier League team, Crystal Palace, 3-1 in Australia.
A match again marked by whistles directed by 76,000 spectators who gathered at the Melbourne Cricket Ground stands towards captain Harry Maguire.
Ten Hag is relying on Maguire and plans to keep him at center back with Lisandro Martinez, the Argentine center-back United signed from Ajax on Sunday. But some supporters disagreed with this decision, so whistles were directed at Maguire every time he touched the ball in the first half hour of play.
Maguire’s trial
This is not the first time Maguire has been immersed in this situation and has faced criticism for his disappointing performance at United and the English team due to the slowdown in his game in recent months.
In fact, last season Maguire was repeatedly beaten even by United fans as well as by supporters of the English team in the friendly against Ivory Coast in March at Wembley (3-0).
For his part, in April Maguire also received a bomb threat at his home in Cheshire and, after reporting the incident, local police conducted a search.
Martial participates in three goals
As for United’s game today, the positive note is the good form of Anthony Martial, who, after finishing the season on loan at Sevilla, returned with renewed hope and scored on all three summer friendlies.
He did it against Liverpool and Melbourne Victory and now Martial scored from close range after his great control over his chest with a cross by Diogo Dalot on the far post. The French striker not only opened the scoring in the 18th minute, but also included two other well-made goals that came after the break.
At 2-0 he exchanged passes with Jadon Sancho before finding Donny van de Beek, whose back pass was netted by Marcus Rashford (48 ‘).
During the game, after good action by Fred and Rashford, Martial assisted Sancho, who left due to the speed of the defense and finished in class (59 ‘).
De Gea misses the goal
David De Gea was unsuccessful in Palace’s goal as Joel Ward’s header after a corner bounced close and the ball slipped between his bodies (74 ‘). United finished with ten while young William Fish (19 years old) was shown a red card for a foul as the last defender and spent just 20 minutes on the pitch (84 ‘).
United’s next friendly is on July 23 against Aston in Perth (Australia). His Premier debut is on August 7 against Brighton
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
