Manchester United blew a lead against Chelsea in embarrassing circumstances, after earlier coming back from two goals down.
Midway through the second half Manchester United substituted striker Rasmus Hojlund and replaced him with Marcus Rashford. A minute later the Red Devils went 3-2 up.
It wasAlejandro Garnacho who gave United the lead, and after he was withdrawn, United’s attack lost the cutting edge it needed.
You would have hoped Rashford himself would have provided it. Unfortunately not. The England forward offered nothing.
Marcus Rashford poor v Chelsea
Marcus Rashford was not in the starting line-up against Chelsea. You can read into that whatever you choose.
On one hand, it could have been a reaction from Erik ten Hag to his woefully unproductive performance against Brentford.
On the other, this may simply have been smart rotation from the manager, with two games in the space of four days.
What we did want to see, was a dynamic performance from Rashford, to push himself into contention to start the next game. We didn’t see it.
Rashford played 25 minutes of normal time plus 10 minutes of stoppage time, and failed to have any impact.
- 12 Touches
- 73% Pass Completion
- 0 Shots
- 0 Chances Created
- 0 Tackles Won
- 0 Duels Won
This was a totally listless cameo performance from Rashford, who did not contribute offensively or defensively. He might as well have not been out there.
Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand discussed Rashford in the lead-up to the game, suggesting he looks ‘not right’, and it has been a troubling season for the forward.
His performance last night did nothing to sway opinion otherwise, following the theme of what we had seen before.
Antony seized his chance
If Rashford was ‘rested’ with a view to the Liverpool game, he might not get his place back. Antony stepped in for him and played well.
The Brazilian provided the assist for Manchester United’s third goal,with a superb pass for Garnacho to score a header.
He also had a large part to play in the second goal too. It would be harsh to drop him after this performance, and Rashford did little to justify a recall.
Rashford is out of form, like Antony has been most of the season. But now the Brazilian is showing flickers of promise, there’s a case to stick by him and allow him to build momentum.