LONDON, England — Anthony Martial has played down talk of a rift with Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho after scoring twice against Chelsea.
The Frenchman’s second half double put United on the brink of a first win at Stamford Bridge since 2012 before Ross Barkley’s 96th-minutes equaliser.
Martial, who is yet to sign a contract extension at Old Trafford, was criticised by Mourinho during the summer for going AWOL after leaving the preseason tour of the U.S. to attend the birth of his son. It resulted in the forward being hit with a two-week fine but after finding the net twice against Chelsea, Martial insisted his relationship with the Portuguese coach is good.
“Things were not tense between us to begin with [before the performance at Chelsea],” said Martial.
“We have a player-coach relationship and I hope that we will continue like that and bring Manchester United as much as possible.”
Martial was also on the scoresheet against Newcastle as United came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2. It means Mourinho’s team will face Juventus at Old Trafford on Tuesday on the back of two positive results and Martial is hopeful of building on the momentum against the Italian champions. The 22-year-old is likely to keep his place against Juventus after scoring three goals in his last two games.
“We were not doing well,” he said. “However, we worked hard and this sort of match enabled us to show that we are a good team.
“We want to continue with another good game against Juventus on Tuesday.
“[The goals] have done me the world of good. “However, ultimately, I am disappointed. We deserved to win but we shipped the goal in the last minute and it cost us.”