Cristiano Ronaldo has fresh cause for concern at Manchester United after Erik ten Hag appeared to confirm Anthony Martial is ahead of him in the attacking pecking order.
Martial, 26, came off the bench to score as the Red Devils defeated Omonia Nicosia 3-2 in the Europa League on Thursday evening. The Frenchman's fine strike was his third goal in five days, as he also struck twice during the 6-3 defeat by Manchester City in the Premier League last Sunday.
His recent return to fitness has been a major boost for Ten Hag after an injury-struck start to the season. Martial was hobbled off in a friendly against Atletico Madrid in late July and returned from that hamstring issue only to suffer an Achilles complaint in August.
Fit and firing once more, Ten Hag heaped praise on the former Monaco man and admitted it is a "big disappointment" he has not been involved more. These comments spell bad news for Ronaldo, who was struggling for game time in the Premier League even before Martial returned to full training.
"We have already seen [Martial's importance] in pre-season," Ten Hag said on BT Sport after the victory over Nicosia. "It was a big disappointment for the team and for me when he got injured against Atletico Madrid. We missed him in the first couple of weeks and it also had an effect on our team performance."
The United manager also opened up on what he told his players at the interval, before he introduced Marcus Rashford - who scored twice and set up Martial - and Luke Shaw. "A couple of things [were said at half-time], especially more runs," Ten Hag added.
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"We were too static. We have to make the opposite movement to get behind and that's also why we made two subs. "Luke, Marcus definitely, but also Anthony Martial. I think the subs really had an impact today. That's really good and makes the team stronger."
United were heavy favourites to defeat Cypriot minnows Omonia, even if the final scoreline was not as convincing as Ten Hag might have hoped. The Dutchman insists the game can only be considered a "warm-up" ahead of a tricky Premier League encounter with Everton on Sunday, which has added importance given the crushing defeat the Red Devils suffered at the Etihad Stadium.
"It has to be only a warm-up," Ten Hag said. "On Sunday, we have to react and give the best performance we have. We have to prepare that now." United were due to travel to the Toffees in Saturday's early game but the kick-off was moved to allow Ten Hag's side more time for recovery after their trip back from Cyprus.
