The 22/23 Premier League season has been full of twists and turns and that is surely one of the ways to describe Manchester United’s turnaround. The club struggled at the start of the season with Erik ten Hag at the helm. This included a humiliating 4-0 loss to Brentford as well.
With that said, the Dutch manager has managed to turn the ship around, as United sits in third place below Manchester City and league leaders Arsenal right now. One of the main reasons for this would be Marcus Rashford.
The English winger/striker has been in exceptional form since the World Cup ended in December. It would be safe to claim that he was one of England’s best players in Qatar as well, netting 3 goals during the group stages. Ever since Rashford returned from Qatar, he has been bagging goals with ease for Man Utd.
The Manchester United no.10 has scored 24 goals, including 14 goals in the PL, up until this point. It is a remarkable feat considering the season is not even over yet. He managed to find the back of the net twice against Leicester, who were doing fairly well until they came to Old Trafford. Rashford scored the opener from a Bruno Fernandes assist in the 25th minute after the Portuguese midfielder’s pinpoint pass from his outer foot.
Marcus Rashford keeps up red-hot form as he equals Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal record from the 21/22 season
Rashford oozed confidence with his finish as he chose to shoot on his own despite having Alejandro Garnacho as an option to his left. The second goal for United also came from Rashford in the 56th minute as Fred slid the ball through to him and was aided by Leicester’s Wout Faes, who played Rashford onside.
United clearly chose to run riot after a slightly disappointing first quarter of the game. ten Hag brought on Jadon Sancho at halftime for Garnacho, and the former managed to get on the scoresheet as well. Sancho combined brilliantly with Fernandes in the 61st minute to slot the ball home into an empty net. It was a classic Manchester United performance, but there is a record that Rashford would surely be proud of. The young player managed to equal the great Cristiano Ronaldo‘s record from the 21/22 season.
Ronaldo returned to the Theatre Of Dreams in September 2021 and it was the fairytale that United fans were waiting for. In his first season, Ronaldo bagged 24 goals, announcing to the soccer world he still had what it took to perform at the top. However, it was his second season when things didn’t go according to plan. United and Ronaldo reached a mutual agreement to terminate the soccer icon’s contract, and he moved to Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.
The fact that Rashford has reached 24 goals even before the season has ended speaks at length about the type of player he is. ten Hag has even mentioned recently that Rashford’s performances do not surprise him, and that he knew the 23-year-old was a special player. With that said, United fans have every right to be excited to see how the team performs this season, with Marcus Rashford leading the charge.
Source: www.sportsmanor.com
