Lisandro Martinez in tears as he is taken off the pitch on a stretcher at Old Trafford with horror injury
Lisandro Martinez was in tears as he was taken off the pitch on a stretcher at Old Trafford during Manchester United’s game against Crystal Palace.
The Argentine was replaced on 83 minutes by Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt with the hosts trailing 2-0 to Oliver Glasner.
Frenchman Jean-Phillipe Mateta netted his second goal of the game shortly after play resumed following Martinez’s injury.
Nine minutes of stoppage time were indicated at Old Trafford following the stoppage in play.
United’s 2-0 defeat at the Theatre of Dreams means that, since the start of last season, only Wolves have lost more matches at home in the league than the Red Devils.
It also marks their fifth home loss out of six in the league – and means Palace have gone above them in the table – with United dropping to 13th.
Lisandro Martinez was in tears after going down with what appeared to be a serious injury
Nine minutes of stoppage time were indicated at Old Trafford following the stoppage in play
The news will come as a concern to Ruben Amorim, whose side went 2-0 down shortly after Martinez left the pitch
Palace have now won six of the last 12 Premier League meetings between the two clubs – including on four of their last six visits to Old Trafford – and picked up 16 points away from home since the start of December, more than any other top-flight club.
Commenting on the incident from Old Trafford as it unfolded, Mail Sport’s Chris Wheeler said: ‘Just a few minutes after going behind to Mateta’s [first] goal, Martinez goes down under a challenge from Sarr and the stretcher is on.
‘It’s the same area of the pitch when here suffered a serious knee injury against West Ham last season, and there will be fears that he has suffered a similar injury.’
That injury came in an FA Cup tie at home to West Ham United last season, in the same area of the pitch, although it was unclear this time whether the problem was ankle or knee.
While the extent of the injury remains unclear, losing Martinez for an extended period – as appears to be the case – would be a huge blow to Ruben Amorim.
The defender has started every game bar three of the Portuguese boss’ 20 games in charge so far.
With United shell-shocked by the injury, Mateta completed the home side’s misery with his second goal in the 89th minute before a further nine minutes of time added on by referee John Brooks.
Substitute Adam Wharton broke from midfield and fed Sarr who picked out Munoz running free of Yoro. He had the simple task of squaring to Mateta to score from close range.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the game when asked about his brace, Palace striker Mateta said: ‘I’m feeling fantastic! We won these three points, we worked hard and I am very happy.
‘We know how they play with the new manager, we worked on a plan during the week and we stuck to the plan.
‘We listened to the gaffer and worked hard and I think we deserve this win. I just put my head down and worked hard and I think sometimes when you do that, you get the reward.’
