Louis van Gaal described Anthony Martial as “stupid” last night after the Manchester United forward conceded a penalty, but scored an equaliser in Moscow.
United secured a draw at CSKA Moscow’s Arena Khimki, but their performance was not fluid, with Martial’s fifth goal in his ninth appearance since his £36 million summer transfer from Monaco taking them to second in group B, two points behind Wolfsburg, the Bundesliga side.
While there was some sympathy for the 19-year-old and his tender years, there was a rebuke from Van Gaal for the handball offence that served as the preamble to a goal for Seydou Doumbia, who scored after David de Gea repelled a penalty from Roman Eremenko.
“Antony Martial is also a human being and he reacts,” Van Gaal said. “It’s a stupid reaction but sometimes things will happen. It was the first time he said he had made a handball in the 18-yard box and it’s a shame it happens with me, but he was not affected at half-time and I was very happy with his performance.”
With games against CSKA and PSV Eindhoven at Old Trafford next month, Van Gaal believes United’s position is sturdy. “I know we now have two home matches and you can say that we are very strong at home,” he said.
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While United had lots of possession against CSKA, and improved in the second half, their use of the ball was often ponderous.
Paul Scholes, the former United midfielder, was withering about their display. Speaking at half-time, Scholes said: “There is no movement, no quality. Not one of the midfielders ever thinks about running [forward]. It’s the way they’ve been told to play, all safety across the pitch.”
“We could not play at a higher tempo and were too slow,” he said after the match. “That is what I said at half-time, that we have to improve in switching the game from side to side and then we did that better in the second half.”
Kevin de Bruyne scored a stoppage-time winner to give Manchester City a vital Champions League win over Seville. The Belgian, signed for a club-record £55 million, settled a match dominated by the Spanish club for long periods. It gave City a crucial advantage before the return fixture in Seville in two weeks with Juventus, last season’s finalists, leading their group.
Manuel Pellegrini left Vincent Kompany, his captain, out of his starting team, apparently a reaction to Belgium’s decision to play Kompany in a Euro 2016 qualifier last week against City’s wishes.
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Police in Manchester arrested five people, three of them Polish fans, when a brawl broke out in the city centre before City took on Seville. The fight took place in Shambles Square and reports in Spain suggested fans of Slask Wroclaw, the Polish club, sparked the trouble after violence when Slask and Seville met in the Europa League in 2013.