Leon Bailey ‘couldn’t breathe’ after Lisandro Martinez’s ‘double elbow’, new footage has emerged

Leon Bailey has accused Lisandro Martinez of elbowing him in the ribs twice during Aston Villa's 3-1 victory over Manchester United - with footage of the incident emerging online.

The 25-year-old scored Villa's opening goal on Sunday afternoon as Unai Emery celebrated his first game as manager with a win.

During the second half, Bailey challenged Martinez for a ball in the United penalty area with things getting physical.

Martinez appeared to move his arm into Bailey's chest then his stomach. The Jamaica international went down and stayed grounded for a few seconds. You can check out fan footage of the incident below.

Referee Anthony Taylor let Martinez go unpunished, as did VAR. It's something Bailey was furious with on social media following the game.

He tweeted: "Very disappointed in the referees today, I couldn’t breath [sic] for a second after getting elbowed twice in my rib. The linesman went on to say I shouldn’t be saying anything because I was doing just the same thing to Martinez. Sometimes I don’t understand why we got VAR. SMH."

Martinez has become a popular figure among United fans since arriving from Ajax in the summer. His willingness to dive into tackles resonates with supporters but his physicality sometimes gets him into trouble.

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Minutes before Bailey and Martinez's exchange, Cristiano Ronaldo and Tyrone Mings nearly came to blows.

As United teenager Alejandro Garnacho attempted to get past Matty Cash on the left hand side, Ronaldo dragged Mings down in the box.

Ronaldo was booked for his actions, although a VAR check cleared the five-time Ballon d'Or winner of violent conduct.

Defeat for United denied them the chance to move level on points with Tottenham Hotspur in fourth place.

United boss Erik ten Hag admitted his side were below par at Villa Park, where they hadn't lost in the league since 1995.

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"Collectively it was a bad performance," he declared. ‘When we are out our best, we start the game on the front foot and ready to play. We were not and we did not deserve any more than we got.

"We didn’t follow the rules in defending and we lost our battles. If the players had done their job with 100 per cent desire and passion then we would have won this game."

United and Villa will go at it once again on Thursday, this time in the Carabao Cup at Old Trafford.

Topics: Manchester United, Aston Villa, Lisandro Martinez, Premier League

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a social editor for SPORTbible after moving from the writing team. Nearly scored past Stormzy at Old Trafford once.

@DanMarland_