Manchester United registered their third clean sheet in their last five matches with a comfortable 2-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol at the Zimbru Stadium in Moldova on Thursday evening.
First-half goals from Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo were enough to clinch a professional away win for United, securing the first triumph of their Europa League campaign. Erik ten Hag's side were dominant throughout the contest and never once looked troubled by their Moldovan hosts.
After seeing last Sunday's trip to Crystal Palace and this forthcoming weekend's clash with Leeds United both postponed, Ten Hag opted to field his strongest available line-up, in the hope of securing their first Group E points. United lost their opening game, going down 1-0 to Real Sociedad last week, after Ten Hag chose to tinker with his starting line-up, following a relentless Premier League schedule.
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His decision to revert back to his strongest line-up saw Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez reunited in the heart of the defence, replacing both Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof who started the defeat to Sociedad at Old Trafford. Varane and Martinez have formed a solid partnership in recent weeks and have started all of the Reds' five victories so far this season.
Ten Hag deployed Maguire and Martinez as his first choice centre-back pairing in United's opening two Premier League matches this season, which saw his side concede six goals. Martinez was taken off at half-time during the defeat to Brentford and was replaced by Varane.
It, therefore, was a surprise to see Martinez retain his place for the visit of Liverpool to Old Trafford nine days later. However, he produced an outstanding display against the Merseysiders, performing heroically alongside Varane, who came into the side at the expense of Maguire.
Flanked by Diogo Dalot on the right and Tyrell Malacia on the left, the two centre-backs have not put a foot wrong since, with Martinez proving why every player needs time to adapt to new surroundings and new colleagues. After the defeat to Brentford, though understandably after his performance, Martinez was criticised by former United defender Gary Neville, particularly for the way he had been bullied by the Bees' physicality.
It prompted the former Reds captain to doubt whether or not Martinez could continue to play in a flat back-four, suggesting that United may have needed to switch to a three-at-the-back system to accommodate the Argentine.
"Maybe on the left in a back three – that could potentially work," Neville told Sky Sports. "Maybe playing in midfield, because we know he can do that.
"I think he's got tenacity and, to be fair, I wouldn't judge him at all at this moment in time. But to say he could play in a back four away at Brentford against [Ivan] Toney and [Bryan] Mbeumo – he physically can't compete with them."
Since the defeat at Brentford, Martinez has started five times, all in a back-four, and United have won every game, conceding just two goals. That sequence of victories, of course, has featured wins over Liverpool and Arsenal, highlighting that the former Ajax man can cope with some of the best attackers the Premier League can offer.
In Neville's defence, however, United, since facing Brentford, have not come up against a team that have loaded the penalty area with crosses into the box, hoping for a big, physical striker to get on the end of them. That could be where Martinez has to prove his mettle once and for all and, hopefully, show that he has learned from the Brentford debacle.
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