Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez was in tears as he was stretchered off with what appeared a serious knee injury at Old Trafford. The centre-back went to ground after a challenge with Crystal Palace froward Ismaila Sarr, and immediately signalled to the bench.
The 27-year-old was clearly holding his left knee, and was assessed by medics for several minutes before being carried off.
And despite a sympathetic round of applause as he left the field, Martinez put his hand over his head and appeared to be crying.
In the first half, the World Cup winner had arguably been his team’s best performer, winning 100 per cent of both his aerial duels and ground duels. He was also deemed by Sky Sports to have made six key passes in attack.
Martinez and Sarr were both chasing a long Palace ball forward in the second half when the incident occurred. The centre-back tries to stick out his left leg to win the ball as he went to ground, but seemed to twist awkwardly as he planted his foot.
There had been slight contact from Sarr, whose run into the area was then halted by the referee blowing up for a foul. But it now looks like a hammer blow to both Ruben Amorim and his player, who has endured a string of injury problems since arriving from Ajax in the summer of 2022.
In April 2023, he suffered a foot injury that ruled him out for five months, and then immediately suffered a reoccurrence that sidelined him for a further four months. The issues confined him to just 11 Premier League appearances last season, although he did return in time for the FA Cup final win over Man City.
Amorim was shown looking on concerned before sending on Matthijs de Ligt as a replacement. And to compound United’s misery, the game also ended in another league defeat.
Jean-Philippe Mateta had already put the visitors after 64 minutes when Martinez went off, and then sealed the win with his second goal in the final moments. It meant a 13th loss in 29 games for the home side, leaving them 13th in the table.
The result comes seven days after the Red Devils won 1-0 at Fulham in the top-flight, a game settled by a late deflected strike from Martinez. But the latest development means United’s signing of Patrick Dorgu from Lecce has taken on extra significance.
The Danish international, 20, arrived last week for a fee in the region of £25million. And he could now be involved as early as next Friday when United host Leicester in the FA Cup fourth round.