Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez got off to the perfect start as Argentina opened up their defence of Copa America overcoming a spirited Canadian side.
The United centre back got the nod to start alongside Cristian Romero and will he hoping he does not relinquish his hard-earned spot during the whole tournament.
La Albiceleste won 2-0 but could not take a lead into the half time break as they were met by a determined Canadian side who fought tooth and nail and could have scored themselves, as both sides missed gilt-edged chances.
Argentina finally found the breakthrough via Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez in the 49th minute but they had to wait until the 88th minute to secure the points as Lautaro Martinez slid home from a sumptuous Lionel Messi through ball.
The World Cup winners had the lion’s share of the ball with 65% and they also had 19 shots to Canada’s 10.
Martinez helped his side keep a clean sheet and he was given a score of 7.2 by Sofascore for his evening’s work.
He got through another crucial 90 minutes of action, his third on the bounce for the national team, which United fans will hope is a clear indication his injury woes are firmly behind him.
He made two clearances and one interception against a dangerous Canadian counter attack.
He won two tackles and came out on top in two out of his four ground duels and did not compete in any aerial battles during the match.
Martinez put in a highly disciplined performance as he only committed one foul.
As usual, El Carnicero was spectacular on the ball and gave Argentina a solid platform to build out from the back as he so often does for United.
He had 98 touches of the ball and completed 83 out of 89 passes for a completion percentage of 93%. He also made one key pass and created one big chance with an immense through ball over the top that was not finished off by a wasteful Argentine attack.
The title holders will next face Chile on Tuesday evening (Wednesday morning UK time) as they aim to make it two victories from two games and Martinez will be hoping he can once again get 90 minutes under his belt.
United’s other representative, Alejandro Garnacho, failed to get off the bench once more and will be dreaming of getting a chance in his nation’s next fixture to make his first mark on the tournament.
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