With Ibrahimovic out, Rashford gets chance at Manchester United
It was around this time last year that Marcus Rashford was scoring the winner in his first Manchester derby and establishing himself as the main striker at Manchester United.
Having already scored twice on both his United debut and his first start in the Premier League, Rashford — a shy, 18-year-old local lad plucked from the under-19s to solve an injury crisis — would soon be an FA Cup winner and earning an England call-up for the European Championship.
He was widely regarded as a future star of English soccer.
Fast forward 12 months and Rashford has drifted out of the spotlight, and is mainly found either on United's substitutes' bench or pushed out to the wing to accommodate the new striker sensation at Old Trafford, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Until now. With Ibrahimovic starting a three-match domestic suspension, Rashford is set to be back leading the line for United — and his first game doesn't get much bigger: An FA Cup quarterfinal at Chelsea on Monday.
It's a chance for Rashford to remind manager Jose Mourinho that he is a striker, first and foremost, and that he can still be the future at United when 35-yearold Ibrahimovic chooses to leave the club, which could even be as early as this summer.
Rashford was thrust from the academy and started 18 of United's final 19 games last season, scoring eight goals. But he has only started 10 out of 26 league games this season, and just one as the striker. He has seven goals in all competitions, only three of which have come in 2017.
Rashford has expressed his frustration at not getting as many starts this season but understands that Mourinho has a wealth of attacking talent at his disposal. Given the season Ibrahimovic is having in his first year, Rashford cannot expect to retain his place when the Swedish striker returns.
But Rashford will become a firm favorite of Mourinho's if he can score the winner on Monday at the Portuguese coach's former club and then help United win upcoming league games against
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Football 1.15pm, GO Sports 2, English FA Cup quarterfinal, MiddlesbroughManchester City (live) 6.15pm, GO Sports 3, English Premier League, Everton-West Bromwich Albion (delayed) 6.15pm, GO Sports 4, English Premier League, Bournemouth-West Ham (delayed) 6.15pm, GO Sports 5, English Premier League, Hull C.-Swansea C.(delayed) Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion in its push for Champions League qualification.
Rashford also needs to stay on the radar of England coach Gareth Southgate ahead of next year's World Cup in Russia.
He won't find it easy against Chelsea, though. The London club is the Premier League leader and has the joint-best defense in the league with Tottenham. If Rashford does get behind center backs Cesar Azpilicueta or Gary Cahill, he'll have sweeper David Luiz — enjoying an excellent season back at Stamford Bridge — to beat.
Chelsea's only loss at Stamford Bridge this season came in September against Liverpool, when the team was a few weeks away 6.30pm, GO Sports 2, English FA Cup, quarterfinal, Arsenal-Lincoln City (live) 8.45pm, GO Sports 1, Italian Serie A, Genoa-Sampdoria (live)
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Golf 8.30am, GO Sports 1, PGA European Tour, Hero Indian Open – Day 3 from switching to a three-man defense — a tactical change that has reignited its season.
Rashford has proved himself the man for the big occasion — he even scored three minutes into his England debut in May — so expect him to make an impact in the standout match of the last eight.
Antonio Conte intends to keep up ecstatic celebrations
Antonio Conte's energetic touchline celebrations have been a feature of Chelsea's impressive season, and he won't likely be changing his behavior anytime soon.
Chelsea, which holds a 10point lead in the Premier League in Conte's first season in charge, (live) Sailing 12.30pm, GO Sports 7, Extreme Series, Muscat, Oman (live)
Tomorrow
Football 12.30pm, GO Sports 2, Italian Serie A, Sassuolo-Bologna (live) 3pm, GO Sports 1, English FA Cup quarterfinal, Tottenham H.-Millwall (live) 3pm, GO Sports 2, Italian Serie A, Inter-Atalanta (live) 3pm, GO Sports 3, Italian Serie A, Napoli-Crotone (live) will next face Manchester United in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Monday.
“I've shown at Chelsea, not only Chelsea, every team that I managed, that I live the game with great passion,” Conte said Friday. “Sometimes I want to share my enthusiasm, my passion, with my players, with my staff, also with my fans. I think it's normal.”
Conte's rival managers aren't so impressed, in particular Manchester United's Jose Mourinho.
The former Chelsea manager was riled by Conte's antics during United's match at Stamford Bridge in October. Chelsea routed United 4-0 and Mourinho, once adored by the home fans, took exception to Conte's wild celebrations after his side's fourth goal.
It led to a touchline spat with an angry Mourinho wagging a finger at Conte and whispering words in his ear before disappearing down the tunnel.
If Chelsea scores against the defending champions at Stamford Bridge on Monday, expect Conte to show little restraint.
Mourinho, on the other hand, is hoping for a low-key build up.
“Chelsea? It's no different. Obviously before the game and after the game, I'll meet some fans and some people I like,” Mourinho told MUTV. “The relation with the fans was always good but, for me, it's just professional.”
United, which drew 1-1 in Russia against Rostov on Thursday in the Europa League, will be without Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the match at Chelsea. The Swede was banned for three matches for elbowing Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings last week.
“We have three days and we have to travel,” Mourinho told MUTV. “We have to go to London. It's really hard. We don't have Zlatan, of course not, but we go with everything we have. We don't put a (weakened) team out like some clubs sometimes Manchester United cannot do that.
“We know this Europa League is very important for us, and the FA Cup is beautiful. We cannot go there with a (reserve) team. We'll try to manage it within our squad and get a good team to compete with them.” 3pm, GO Sports 4, Italian Serie A, Fiorentina-Cagliari (live) 3pm, GO Sports 5, Italian Serie A, ChievoVerona-Empoli (live) 3pm, GO Sports 6, Italian Serie A, Pescara-Udinese (live) 5pm, GO Sports 2, English Premier League, Liverpool-Burnley (live) 8.45pm, GO Sports 1, Italian Serie A, Palermo-Roma (live)
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