“He’ll win the Ballon d'Or one day”, “Teams should be worried” – Manchester United fans left thrilled after performance from 26-year-old star in 3-2 win over Omonia
Manchester United fans are backing Anthony Martial to win a Ballon d'Or following his exploits in the Red Devils' 3-2 comeback win over Omonia on October 6.
Erik ten Hag's side were staring down the barrel of a calamitous defeat to the Cypriot minnows.
A first-half strike from Iranian forward Karim Ansarifard gave Omonia a shock 1-0 lead before the break.
Ten Hag rang the changes, bringing Marcus Rashford on at half-time and Martial on in the 61st minute. The duo were instrumental in the turnaround at the GSP Stadium.
Rashford fired in an equalizer in the 53rd minute, with the Red Devils showing more purpose in attack.
It was then Martial's turn to get on the scoresheet in the 63rd minute.
The French forward took Rashford's neat flick into his stride and cut inside off the left flank.
He then fired past Omonia goalkeeper Fabiano Freitas to give United a vital 2-1 lead.
Rashford would then add another before Omonia's Nikolas Panayiotou gave the Red Devils an anxious end to the game.
Manchester United would eventually see out a 3-2 comeback win and they have Rashford and Martial to thank.
The latter has only just returned from a hamstring injury and netted a double in his side's disappointing 6-3 defeat to Manchester City last weekend.
He was once again among the goals and his overall play has gone down well with fans.
They are now enthused to see him perform regularly if he can rectify his injury issues.
Here are some reactions to Martial's performance from supporters on Twitter who are even touting the Frenchman to secure an unlikely Ballon d'Or somewhere in the future:
Martial is different gravy. Please stay fit forever.
Anthony Martial is our best attacker, argue with yourself
Wrap Martial in cotton wool and make sure he never gets married again and I swear on @utdcynical’s life he’ll win the Ballon D’or one day.
Manchester United play their best football with Anthony Martial on the pitch, you can’t tell me otherwise.
3 goals in 2 games.
Martial is 🔥🔥
Teams should be worried.
Martial’s the decider between whether we finished 7th or top 4 anyways. He needs to stay fit
Still baffles me that some people can’t see that Martial is genuinely our best forward player.
Martial FC eating good regardless.
AS Monaco bank on Martial winning a Ballon d'Or at Manchester United
A Ballon d'Or win for Martial seems unlikely given the fierce competition he is up against throughout Europe.
Fitness problems have taken hold of the Frenchman's career at Manchester United, with the forward making 271 appearances since joining from Monaco in 2015.
He has scored 82 goals and contributed 51 assists in those appearances.
Martial is starting to look like the £54 million teenage striker United lured to the Premier League seven years ago.
That fee will rise if he does manage to win the Ballon d'Or with Manchester United.
Monaco inserted a £7.2 million Ballon d'Or clause in Martial's contract in 2015, per Mirror.
The Frenchman was not a nominee for the award this year.
However, perhaps if Ten Hag can get him firing on all cylinders, he may just be in with a surprise shout in the future.