Moment by Moment: Breaking Down Anthony Martial's Performance Against Fenerbahce

Manchester United's overall performance against Fenerbahce lacked almost everything their travelling support wished to see. From the moment Moussa Sow's audacious overhead kick had given the home side the lead, the Red Devils tried without success to make the breakthrough they needed to keep their Europa League campaign on track.

However, with Paul Pogba limping off after half an hour, and a side lacking cohesion, identity and purpose on display, it was hard to draw too many positives. 

Indeed, it required looking pretty hard, but the performance of Anthony Martial probably had the best shot at being considered one. The Frenchman has been a little more peripheral than many would have expected to Jose Mourinho's side in the early going, partly down to injury and partly down to the manager's choice.

However, for the first 75 minutes or so in Turkey, Martial looked something akin to the player who so impressed last season. Let's take a look at a moment-by-moment breakdown of his performance. And conveniently ignore the collective ability breakdown that most of his team-mates suffered...

Even before Fenerbahce had taken a frighteningly early lead, Martial had been involved in attacking action. Pretty much from kick-off he picked up the ball on the left-hand side and began a trademark zigzag run, which ended when he collided with a defender and slipped.

For a moment, just a moment, it looked like a decent, bright start for United, but of course, all that was about to change.

When the Red Devils had possession shortly after the goal-induced restart, it was interesting to note that he headed for an inside left channel, allowing Luke Shaw space on the overlap. A few moments later, he dropped all the way back into his own half to offer an outlet for Shaw in possession. It was a foreshadowing of the kind of positional flexibility that was to follow.

Just before the 10-minute mark, he found himself in where a No. 10 could expect to be—deep and central. He exhibited a moment of indecision on the ball before eventually finding Pogba, who in turn found Marcus Rashford for the shot.

He clearly had license to roam, popping up a minute later on the right-hand touchline supporting Rashford. Indeed, he and Rashford frequently alternated position. Martial provided an outlet for Ander Herrera on the right, where he stayed for a good five minutes.

He then came inside to play off Wayne Rooney's shoulder, offering a through-ball option to Pogba that his international team-mate did not take, opting instead to find Rashford.

And it was from that deep-lying position, that Martial played an delightful ball to Rooney, whose first touch gave ample evidence of why he is nowhere near United's first-choice XI anymore. The captain's egregious touch, though, should not take away from the vision and execution the Frenchman displayed.

He had created the kind of chance that could well have put United back in contention.

United's attack went quiet for a good while after that, but Martial was able to make some inroads just after the half-hour. He picked the ball up on the left, cut inside, shared a one-two with Rooney then slotted a cross back across the box, though that was cleared for a corner.

It was disjointed, but he plugged away, penalised for what looked a soft foul at worst, after managing to get on the end of a poor through ball from Rashford on the right-hand side of the box. Moments later, he offered the young England striker an outlet with a run into a central channel, though Rashford chose a simpler pass.

He was forced to attend to defensive duties late in the half, combining with Shaw to shut down Fenerbahce's attacking options. United's 70 per cent possession meant he did not have to do that too often, but when called upon, he answered.

All in all, it was a bright first half from Martial, one which hinted at how effective he could be in a more functional United side. He succeeded with 21 of his 25 attempted passes, and though none was counted as "key," that was only down to Rooney's profligacy in not finding a shot after the through ball.

He had succeeded with one of his two attempts to beat a man, won one of his two aerial duels, and won the ball back with the one tackle he attempted. He had, though, been dispossessed three times, the joint-most in United's side.

With 36 touches, he had seen more of the ball than Rashford, Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Pogba, though of course neither of the latter two had played the entire half.

The single standout quality to his half was positional flexibility. He had popped up on the left and right wings, at centre-forward and at No. 10. He had not looked out of his depth in any of those spots. If he was rusty from his relative lack of football so far this season, there were no signs of it in the first 45 minutes.

Soon after the restart, Martial earned United a free-kick with an early run through the middle of the Fenerbahce half. His capacity to pick the ball up and drive at opposition defenders is obviously one of his great strengths.

He showed this off again when he picked up the ball on the left-wing. He faced up against the Fenerbahce full-back, but this time after an abortive attempt to take him on, cut inside and curled a beautiful cross into the centre of the area. Rooney's flicked header went wide, but Martial could hardly have done better.

Two minutes later, he drove at the full-back again, this time beating him on the outside, firing in a cross that cannoned off a defender and resulted in a Juan Mata shot. The Frenchman was trying to make something happen, and for a few minutes it seemed like he might succeed.

Of course, what subsequently did happen was that United went 2-0 down thanks to a Jeremain Lens free-kick. It could hardly have been more against the run of play.

On the 63rd minute, Martial was trying again, again driving at the Turkish defence from deep, this time finding the newly arrived Henrikh Mkhitaryan in space. Mkhitaryan found Mata and the move broke down, but Martial was doing his bit.

Three minutes later, and the Frenchman attempted an audacious scooped dribble past the Fenerbahce full-back. The ball went out for a United throw.

At this point, it looked as though there was a little tiredness creeping in. He has not had a lot of football and has had a couple of injury issues this season, so when he next received the ball and ran straight into the defender, perhaps that lack of what Louis van Gaal would have called “match rhythm” played its part.

In the 75th minute, he attempted to get in behind the defence, but blocking his cross was pretty straightforward.

By now, it looked as if the best of his race was run. United's most promising outlet had not borne fruit and no longer looked likely to.

On the 84th minute, he picked up the ball on the left, dribbled inside and, rather than take the time to consider a pass to one of the players in an advanced position, blasted a tired shot high and wide. Moments later, Rooney found him with a fine through ball, but he was unable do more than dribble his way into trouble on the left.

It was a pretty steep drop-off in performance, but hopefully Mourinho will be more concerned with the good he did in the early part of the game. With Rashford having played so much football and looking a little tired of late, a run of games for Martial makes good sense.

After all, the manager clearly needs to do something a little different as he looks to lift his beleaguered side's spirits.

Advanced data per WhoScored.com.