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Anthony Martial proving to Jose Mourinho that he deserves chance to seal his Manchester United place

Anthony Martial's form suggests he deserves a chance in the Premier League for Manchester United: Getty
Anthony Martial's form suggests he deserves a chance in the Premier League for Manchester United: Getty

It was only a spirited but limited Burton Albion side, but Anthony Martial still did what was asked of him and more.

The Manchester United winger showed all the feints, flicks and skills that Old Trafford came to associate him with during his first season at the club, supplying a delightful assist for Jesse Lingard on United’s third goal before scoring the fourth himself with some classic, off-the-shoulder forward play.

More importantly, he looked like he enjoyed himself. After the game, Jose Mourinho spoke of how players often lack motivation for early-round cup ties against lesser opposition, but Martial showed no sign of complacency or arrogance, even when he was gleefully skipping round some hapless Burton defenders.

It was something that rubbed off on his teammates, too. “When he is running at you, any defender is going to be put on the back foot,” said winger Jesse Lingard

“If he continues to do that throughout the season, he'll be a force this season.”

The former Monaco winger, still world football’s most-expensive teenager ever, was sometimes accused of looking uninterested during his difficult second season at Old Trafford, but on Wednesday he played as though he had something to prove. It was, after all, just his third start of the season.

It is easy to forget the options that Mourinho has in his band-of-three behind the striker. Marcus Rashford scored twice against Burton, making it five goals in his last five appearances and recovering from a rather poor display in the 4-0 win over Everton on Sunday. Juan Mata has started the season impressively, tying up much of United’s play intricately between the lines, but with no goals or assists he is yet to produce much towards an end product. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is almost the opposite to Mata, with some muted displays boosted by a league-high five assists.

Those three players have started behind Romelu Lukaku in three of United’s opening five games, with Martial only forcing his way into the line-up once – in the 2-0 win over Leicester City. The trio of Mata, Mkhitaryan and Rashford appears to be Mourinho’s preferred set-up and after their key roles in United’s impressive start to the season, not one of those players deserves a demotion.

Yet one look at Martial’s record so far this season shows why he is fast becoming hard to ignore. In just 121 minutes of Premier League football this season, Martial has scored three times, roughly once every 40 minutes. It is a superior record to Rashford, who has one league goal fewer despite a greater length of time on the pitch.

Could Mourinho play Martial and Rashford together, with them operating on either flank? Possibly, but when not used as a central striker, both have played their best football on the left flank and looked ineffective on the right.

Lingard had high praise for Martial after his performance against Burton Albion (Getty)
Lingard had high praise for Martial after his performance against Burton Albion (Getty)

Given Rashford’s still-tender age and a tightening schedule, Martial will certainly earn more minutes. The question is, will they come in the most important games? Will Mourinho put his faith in him?

Next up is a trip to St Mary’s on Saturday, which will arguably be United’s toughest test of the new season so far. The fixture comes just over two years on from the day Martial scored a double on the south coast in his first United start, one week after that debut goal in front of the Stretford End against Liverpool. It was an exciting display from the then-19-year-old, one filled with promise for the future.

There have been ups and downs since then, but Martial deserves the chance to put Southampton to the sword again.