Adam Lallana has revealed part of Brighton and Hove Albion's plan in their opening weekend victory at Manchester United was to target new arrival Lisandro Martinez.
Graham Potter's side got their Premier League campaign underway with their first ever win at Old Trafford, with the former England international a key figure to his team's 2-1 success on Sunday.
The introduction in the second half of Cristiano Ronaldo by new United manager Erik ten Hag was not enough for the hosts, as Pascal Gross' two first-half goals proved enough to see off an Alexis Mac Allister own goal.
Martinez made his debut from the start following his pre-season move from Ajax, and the Argentine's partnership with Harry Maguire was put to the test early on by the movement of the visitors.
Speaking to Sky Sports' Melissa Reddy after the win, Lallana said it had been part of the plan to try and unsettle Martinez as he was new to the league.
"[The plan was] to have a lot of courage," the former Liverpool man revealed. "We had a shape, we had triggers. Me and [Danny Welbeck] have a lot of experience in the final third.
"We went a little bit more direct because we knew United had been pressing well in pre-season, obviously with new ideas from the manager, and I thought Wells caused them problems all game.
"With their new signing [Martinez], we know the Premier League's difficult, so we thought we'd ask him questions early on. We landed on second balls, gained good territory and attacked the ball well in numbers. Something we've spoken about is getting across the front post and Pascal got the finishes."
Ronaldo was left on the bench initially by Ten Hag, having only featured for 45 minutes of pre-season due to personal reasons, though there had also been frequent speculation suggesting he wishes to leave for a Champions League club.
His introduction early in the second half led to a change of shape, with another United debutant, Christian Eriksen, moving from a false nine position into midfield.
Lallana credited Potter with "taking the sting" out of the game, while also bemoaning some refereeing decisions that went against them, including a push from Martinez on Welbeck in the penalty area that was deemed fair by the officials.
"We knew they were going to react tactically or with personnel," he said. "We played the second half knowing it wasn't going to be the same [as the first], but we weathered the storm.
"I thought there were a couple of decisions that didn't go our way. We had a penalty chance, a couple of fouls that the ref let go, but we made good subs at good times. I thought the manager just took the sting out of the game and we shored the game up brilliantly in the last five or 10 minutes.
"It was a huge positive and good game management."
Club Brugge 0-3 Borussia Dortmund: Gittens nets twice as last season's finalists open with win
Jamie Gittens scored twice as Borussia Dortmund opened their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 victory away at Club Brugge.
Serhou Guirassy added a late penalty for last season's finalists, who netted three times in the final quarter of an hour at Jan Breydelstadion.
Brugge carried the greater attacking threat for most of the contest, going closest to scoring when Hugo Vetlesen rattled the crossbar, but they were made to pay for their profligacy.
Gittens entered the action as a 68th-minute substitute and broke the deadlock eight minutes later - albeit in fortuitous circumstances - with his shot taking two deflections before nestling in the top-left corner.
The 20-year-old doubled his and Dortmund's tally with four minutes remaining, cutting inside before firing past Simon Mignolet in the Brugge goal.
Guirassy added further gloss to the scoreline from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time, slotting home from 12 yards after he was fouled by Brandon Mechele.
Data Debrief: Super sub Gittens stars in historic win
Keeping Brugge at bay, Dortmund became the first team in Champions League history to play a single opponent five times without conceding a goal.
Gittens got the ball rolling at the other end. At 20 years and 41 days old, he is the second-youngest player to score two or more goals as a substitute in a Champions League game, older than only Monaco's David Trezeguet, who was just 34 days younger when he struck against K. Lierse SK in October 1997.
Guirassy completed the victory from the spot, meaning Dortmund have now converted each of their last six Champions League penalties, last failing from 12 yards against Barcelona in September 2019 through Marco Reus.
Al-Nassr confirm appointment of former Milan boss Pioli
Al-Nassr have appointed former Milan boss Stefano Pioli as their new head coach after parting company with Luis Castro, the Saudi Pro League club confirmed on Wednesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo's side, who finished a distant second in the Pro League to unbeaten Al-Hilal last season, relieved Castro of his duties after taking five points from their first three games of 2024-25.
Al-Nassr have played out frustrating 1-1 draws with Al-Raed and Al-Ahli in their first two home games of the campaign, either side of beating AL-Feiha 4-1.
Pioli had been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia after leaving his role as head coach of Milan at the end of 2023-24, when the Rossoneri finished 19 points behind Serie A winners Inter.
"Pioli Is Nassrawi. We welcome Stefano Pioli as our new coach", read a post to the team's X account, with details of his contract not being announced.
Pioli previously led Milan to a surprise Scudetto triumph in 2021-22, and his first match in charge will see him face off against Steven Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq on Friday.
Rashford hopes to carry cup momentum forward at Crystal Palace
Marcus Rashford is hopeful Manchester United can build on their dominant EFL Cup success over Barnsley when they go to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday, highlighting the importance of their attackers building positive relationships.
Rashford scored twice as United routed the third-tier side 7-0 at Old Trafford, reaching the fourth round of a competition they won in Ten Hag's first season at the helm in 2022-23.
On Saturday, they return to the scene of one of their most humiliating defeats under the Dutchman, facing a Crystal Palace side that thrashed them 4-0 in May.
Rashford – who also opened his Premier League account for the season in last week's 3-0 victory at Southampton – believes the confidence garnered from United's midweek win could take them far.
"It's important to have those relationships on the pitch but I think as a front unit, linking with the midfield, we did very well," Rashford told Sky Sports.
"Before the first goal, it was a little difficult but after the first one, we found better spaces and we probably made better decisions in order to score."
Asked if the goals would now start to flow for him, Rashford said: "It's early to say but I hope so. We'll move onto the next game now and just rest, recover and focus on the next one.
"Football is football, sometimes you have ups and sometimes you have downs. We have to use these games to find momentum and find consistency."
Palace, meanwhile, are 16th in the table with two points from four matches, though they did earn a 2-1 EFL Cup win at Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday.
Having netted on his return to his former club, attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze said: "Of course, to come back here and to score is a great feeling.
"That was the main thing as to what we wanted to come here and do: win, go through to the next round, and put in a performance.
"It's a difficult place to come. You can see the atmosphere, it's not easy to play under, but we did what we needed to do, and that's the most important thing."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Crystal Palace – Jean-Philippe Mateta
Since Glasner's first game in charge in February, only Erling Haaland (19) has scored more Premier League goals than Mateta (15 in 17 games), including a goal in May's 4-0 rout of the Red Devils.
In that time, he has also scored multiple goals on four occasions (three braces, one hat-trick) – only Wilfried Zaha has ever scored more than once in more different Premier League games for the Eagles (six braces).
Manchester United – Bruno Fernandes
United captain Fernandes has had more shots without scoring than any other player in the Premier League so far this season (13).
Overall, United have the third-highest expected goals total in the Premier League this term (7.9 xG) but have scored five goals, with only Southampton (4.6 xG, one goal) registering a worse underperformance. They will hope Fernandes can lead from the front here.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
Glasner's Palace beat United 4-0 in the Premier League last season – only eight managers have ever won their first two games against the Red Devils in the competition, most recently Roberto De Zerbi with Brighton in September 2023.
That victory was part of a Premier League double by the Eagles, the first time they have ever beaten United in consecutive league matches.
United have now lost two of their last three away league games against Palace (one draw), having gone unbeaten through their previous 13 such visits to Selhurst Park, winning nine and drawing four.
The Red Devils have struggled in London more generally under Ten Hag, only winning two of their last 16 away Premier League games in the capital (four draws, 10 defeats), with both victories coming at Fulham (2-1 in November 2022, 1-0 in November 2023).
With Palace winless in the Premier League so far this season (two draws, two defeats) after ending 2023-24 with six victories in their final seven games (one draw), it may not be a surprise to see the spoils shared.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Crystal Palace – 35.9%
Manchester United – 39.1%
Draw – 25%
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