Marcus Rashford was recently named in the list of nominees for the Golden Boy award, and it’s become a familiar refrain on English shores that he’s just as good as Kylian Mbappe or Ousmane Dembele, the two young players who have dominated headlines recently.
Manchester United will hope he continues to justify such talk, and he’s certainly made a bright start to the season under Jose Mourinho.
The United manager places a lot of faith in the youngster and on Saturday, Rashford turned in another performance that showed exactly why, with two assists and overall lively play in a 4-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Here’s an analysis of the teenage star’s performance.
BASIC STATS
Goals – 0
Assists – 2
Shots – 2
Dribbles – 3
Passes – 13
Key Passes – 4
Pass Accuracy – 72%
Touches – 33
Aerial Duels won – 1
Rashford showed his battling qualities as well.
EFFECTIVENESS
Rashford’s preferred position may be as a central striker, but he’s no less effective as a winger. Down the left flank, the United youngster terrorised the Palace defence with his trickery and pace, using both to good effect set up United’s opening goal and then demonstrating his set-piece prowess for United’s second. An all-around display from the United winger.
Rashford showed devastating pace and trickery on the right wing.
KEY MOMENTS
3rd min: Matched up against Joel Ward on United’s left flank, Rashford embarrassed the Palace defender, first shifting the ball away from the by-line to lull Ward into a false sense security, and then deceiving Ward by shaping to cross only to beat the defender on the turn. From there, he showed great composure to find Juan Mata for United’s opening goal.
43rd min: If there’s one knock on Rashford, it’s that he doesn’t convert his chances as much as he should for a player of his quality. He found himself open from merely yards out as a cross fell to him inside the box. However, it came onto his weaker left foot, and while he shifted back onto his right quickly enough to get a powerful shot away, the space had closed down and the shot was saved. Had he gone for it with his left, any half-decent contact would have resulted in a goal.
49th min: Rashford has jumped up the pecking order for set-piece duties, so when United got a free-kick on the left wing, it was set up for a right-footer of his ability. It was crossing rather than shooting position, but Rashford went for goal anyway – and the pace of his strike turned it into a brilliant assist. The free-kick may have been destined for the back of the net anyway but Marouane Fellaini was taking no chances, touching it in for United’s third.
Fellaini owed his second goal to Rashford’s brilliant set-piece delivery.
VERDICT: 8/10
Only a goal was missing from the 19-year-old’s performance on Saturday, and in all honesty he should have had one. Plenty of great players are still hesitant on their weaker foot, but Rashford only had to pay attention to England colleague Harry Kane’s brilliant left-footed striker earlier in the day to see what can happen with a little confidence. Apart from that, it was a display that earned Rashford a deserved standing ovation from the Old Trafford faithful.
