Michael Owen says Lisandro Martinez wrapping his boot around Patrick Bamford’s neck in Manchester United’s 2-2 draw with Leeds United on Wednesday night was “not nice”, as he told Premier League Productions (02 /08/23 at 9:05 p.m.).
The former striker added that Martinez ‘knows absolutely everything he’s doing here’ and it’s something he could have ‘easily avoided’ towards the Leeds United striker.
Just towards the end of the first half the ball was snagged by Bruno Fernandes with Martinez and Bamford contesting a 50-50 ball.
This resulted in both players falling to the ground after colliding, with Bamford running back into the path of the £57million Man United man (Sky Sports), who then threw his leg in the face of his rival.
Some might say it was a natural reaction from the very aggressive Martinez, but others might think it should and could have been avoided, because he may have got away with it.
Well, Michael Owen was certainly heading to Bamford and how Martinez was “trying to give him some space”.
“We’ve all been to where you think ‘you know what, I can make this move feel like a pretty natural move, but I’m going to leave it to him a bit,’” Owen said.
“He knows absolutely everything he does here. This little hook around the neck. He can easily avoid that.
“Then to keep his foot there and slide his studs over the top of Bamford’s head. But it wasn’t a tampon. It was not an obvious action. You will always get away with it.
“He knows deep down that he’s trying to leave him a little hurt there. A little nail on his head. It’s not nice. The metal nails are quite painful when they scrape your head. He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
DRAW A FAIR RESULT
It was a chaotic, action-packed, frenetic, entertaining and aggressive game for both teams. The one you expect for such a fixture.
The result reads like a draw at the end of the first contest, and in truth, that was probably the fair result.
But both heavyweights will come back to blows on Sunday, this time Leeds could have every chance of having a new man in the Elland Road dugout.
In other news, ‘Let’s be honest’: Liverpool react to Jurgen Klopp over Real Madrid claims
