Manchester United duo Lisandro Martinez and Bruno Fernandes hailed teammate Facundo Pellistri after he made a positive impact during Wednesday night's 3-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
The Uruguayan, who joined United from Penarol in October 2020, stepped off the bench with just under 20 minutes left on the clock, replacing Antony. It marked just his second appearance in United colours, with his previous outing coming in the last round of the Carabao Cup against Charlton Athletic.
The supporters had been urging manager Erik ten Hag to hand an opportunity to Pellistri to prove his worth, with his only previous appearances for the club coming in pre-season friendlies. He spent last season on loan at Spanish side Alaves and failed to make a significant impact.
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However, Pellistri has shown signs of life in his two cameo appearances this month, providing an assist in the 3-0 win over Charlton and playing a key hand in Fernandes' strike to make it 3-0 against Forest. His impact against the City Ground outfit was praised by Ten Hag, who has since confirmed plans to keep him at the club beyond Tuesday's transfer deadline.
Speaking after the win at Forest, Ten Hag said: "We have seen some physicality, he had some good movements, some good runs in behind, he has speed. So he has to bring that in our game.
"I think he is a player who can play really good between the lines because he can be ball-secure, that he has to bring in our game. A little bit different, like a left-footed right winger we have with Antony and he is right-footed and his good chance he created was his cross for Wout Weghorst."
As well as impressing his manager against Forest, Pellistri also earned praise from his teammates, especially Fernandes, who sent a complementary four-word message to his teammate, replying to an Instagram post of the former's.
Fernandes wrote: "Once again, very good."
Martinez, too, issued a compliment in Pellistri's favour, saying: "Uruguay is great."
Both players signed off their messages with the clapping emoji. Pellistri will have ambitions of earning more minutes as the season progresses, particularly with the volume of fixtures the Reds are trying to work their way through.
They are still competing in four different competitions, meaning Ten Hag could choose to rotate his pack slightly against Reading in the FA Cup on Saturday evening. Pellistri will no doubt be targeting that fixture as an opportunity to earn his full debut.
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