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Man Utd's Lisandro Martinez accused of 'trying to hurt' Bukayo Saka after Arsenal flare-up
The Argentine has come under fire for his full-blooded challenge.
Lisandro Martinez has been accused of trying to "end Bukayo Saka's career" with a dangerous challenge during Manchester United's 2-0 triumph over Arsenal in a pre-season friendly on Saturday. The Argentine lunged in recklessly on the 21-year-old as tempers flared at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Gunners skipper Martin Odegaard immediately squared up to Martinez as a sea of red and green shirts rushed to the scene of the crime. Arsenal fans were not best pleased by the foul either and expressed their disgust on social media.
One fan (@EduardoHagan) tweeted: "Lisandro Martinez, disgusting individual. Suffers from the same illness as Cuti Romero. They look to harm the opponent."
Another (@afc_brodie) wrote: "Lisandro Martinez is such an idiot. Why do you tackle like that in a friendly." A third (@itsdavidsean) said: "Lisandro Martinez was stupid for that Saka tackle yesterday, silly and unnecessary."
Martin Odegaard ������ Lisandro Martinez pic.twitter.com/a6SH6naQyv
— Football Duels (@Footy_Duels) July 23, 2023
Meanwhile, a fourth (@othmanthree) added: "That Lisandro Martinez's tackle on Saka is awful. Unacceptable!" Martinez, who is known for being a tough tackler and was nicknamed 'The Butcher' during his time at Ajax, was booked for the challenge while Saka thankfully came out unscathed.
United recorded their third win of pre-season on the night following victories against Leeds and Lyon. Bruno Fernandes got the Red Devils' first at the half-hour mark with a strike from outside of the box that wrong-footed Aaron Ramsdale between the sticks.
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Jadon Sancho then went on to double their lead seven minutes later as he pounced on a mistake from Gabriel Magalhaes. The two sides then squared off in a post-match penalty shoot-out which was won 5-3 by Erik ten Hag's men after Fabio Vieria skied his penalty over the bar while Casemiro, Martin Odegaard, Diogo Dalot, Leandro Trossard, Marcus Rashford, Jorginho and Christian Eriksen all found the target.
Man Utd are now set to play Wrexham on Wednesday followed by further friendlies against Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Lens and Athletic Bilbao before opening up their Premier League campaign versus Wolves on August 14.