Schneiderlin: Martial deserved United equaliser

It was a game of two contrasting halves for 19-year-old Anthony Martial as Manchester United drew at CSKA Moskva.

Before the interval, Martial conceded a penalty from which Seydou Doumbia struck in the rebound. But in the second period he scored a deserved equaliser with a well-taken header to earn United crucial point, the only one gained away from home so far by any team in Group B.

Fellow Frenchman Morgan Schneiderlin, who is also a newcomer to Manchester United, if not English football, has been helping Martial to adapt to life in the Premier League and he says the teenager "showed character" to come back from an early setback, when his handball led to a spot kick.

"He is a very, very good player and you know it can happen to anyone in the game to handball in the box and he was disappointed with it," Schneiderlin said.

"He did very well after it and kept going, he kept dribbling and he kept trying to do things and he got the reward with that goal."

After a lacklustre first half, United were finding it difficult to turn their possession into something more meaningful. Igor Akinfeev, who was looking to keep his first UEFA Champions League clean sheet since 2006, was largely untested.

A Wayne Rooney header just before the hour mark finally brought the Russian international into life, before Martial popped up to extend Akinfeev's unwanted record to 34 matches. Martial showed great composure to send a glancing header past the goalkeeper and in off the post to restore parity.

"We put in a lot of effort in the first half even if we did not create a lot," said Schneiderlin. "They had to run a lot behind the ball and we knew with the game advancing we would create more. Rooney was the first step and then Anthony scored the goal."

Martial has become a big hit after scoring important goals following his move to United, and his team-mate Schneiderlin is urging him to keep up his good form.

"He is a guy who is 19 and he has played every game since he came here. He is doing very well and has scored many goals and he is a big threat for us with his good dribbling, so he needs to keep going."