Lisandro Martinez says Manchester United’s Europa League win over Real Betis “doesn’t say anything” as they are looking to meet Erik ten Hag’s “standards”.
The Red Devils thrashed Betis with a 4-1 at Old Trafford with goals by Marcus Rashford, Antony, Bruno Fernandes and Weghorst – the visitors got a goal in the first half with Leicester loanee Ayoze Perez.
This comes after Sunday’s 7-0 loss to Liverpool, which led to some remarks by Ten Hag accusing his players of dropping their “standards” after a dominant run in all competitions.
Martinez said the team took the Dutchman’s criticism on board and are refusing to lose their concentration.
United picked up a lead in the first leg of the Last 16 but the defender says they need to remain focused ahead of the return fixture next week.
Martinez told MUTV: “It was a great result for us, but we have to keep going. “It doesn’t say anything this result. It’s the first leg and when we go to Betis, we have to be ready and focused, especially in their home, they play well and have the support of their people.
“We are happy for this game. I think the energy of the team [lacked], they started to play, and in the second half we changed the passion, the energy and we showed our mentality and we created more chances, then we score.”
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Antony, Fernandes and Weghorst, all received huge criticism after the embarrassing defeat at Liverpool.
But Martinez backed all of his United team-mates, who redeemed themselves with a much improved display against Betis.
The Argentine star added: “He’s a really good player [Antony], with a lot of quality, his skills are amazing and I’m happy for him because it’s important for his confidence. I’m really happy with the job of the team.
“I’m happy for him [Fernandes] as well, as like you say, there was a lot of criticism to our team but it’s like this when you play for a big, big team, it can happen, so you have to be ready and be happy with where we are.”
