Martial set for more minutes

The Frenchman joined the fray after the break at the Etihad Stadium and headed home before winning and finishing a penalty to reduce the deficit against our Manchester rivals.

Prior to that cameo, Martial had only played one half of football in the Premier League this term – an impressive contribution our 2-1 win over Liverpool – after suffering an injury during pre-season.

The forward notched three goals during Tour 2022, and looked set to be a key man from the outset, were it not for the setback he suffered.

Martial returned to action against City in impressive fashion, and looks to be in line for more minutes when United face Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League on Thursday evening.

“We are happy he’s back,” said manager Erik ten Hag, when discussing our no.9 in an interview with club media ahead of the 17:45 BST kick-off at the GSP Stadium.

“But we will take it careful, step by step, in a process to bring him back.

“He [has] played now almost a half, so 35 minutes, which is good, and now we have to extend that.

“But [we will do that] from game to game, and we have a lot of games to cover.”

Whether the United boss opts to select Martial from the start in Cyprus remains to be seen, but the striker will undoubtedly be eager to follow up his recent double by getting off the mark in this campaign’s Europa League.

As Ten Hag mentioned, United have a lot of matches in October - nine in total - and the Reds face Everton just three days after the clash with Omonia.

While the manager has made it clear that while he will not rush his players back, Martial looks in line to see his game-time increased in the coming weeks, as the matches come thick and fast for the Reds at home and abroad.

The 26-year-old will also have designs on breaking into France's World Cup squad before the tournament takes place towards the end of the year.