A wonder strike, then Rashford fizzles out
IT is the hope that kills you with Marcus Rashford. The hope that he will become the player we all know he can be. The hope that he will look like a man who is loving the life he tells us he always dreamed of living.
The hope that the thumping goal he scored here at the Etihad will be the norm and not just an occasional flash of brilliance.
And it was brilliant, make no mistake about it. When Bruno Fernandes latched on to Andre Onana’s punt upfield in the eighth minute of the 192nd Manchester derby, held the ball up and laid it back for Rashford, you were not sure what to expect.
United’s No 10 did not hesitate. He smacked it first time from 25 yards and his shot flew into Ederson’s goal off the underside of the bar.
‘That’s the best way to answer everybody, smash one in the net from 25 yards. It’s a one in 30 chance that you think Rashford is going to beat Ederson from there,’ gushed Gary Neville on Sky Sports.
‘ No problem with his body language today,’ added Roy Keane after Rashford celebrated wildly in front of United’s fans.
We wondered if this was the day when Rashford would rise above the cut and thrust of a rather lop- sided derby and emerge as United’s hero, reignite his team’s hopes of Champions League qualification and dent City’s title bid.
Sadly not. Shortly afterwards, he wasted two opportunities to put United 2-0 up and really test City’s powers of recovery.
In the 17th minute, his heavy touch to control Fernandes’ throughball on halfway allowed Kyle Walker to win it back. Six minutes later, Fernandes’ deep cross ran through to Rashford at the back post, but he fluffed his volley from a difficult angle and fell on his backside.
By half-time, he was clearly struggling with a knock that had cast some doubt over his inclusion in the United line-up. ‘He fought to be part of this game,’ said Ten Hag, so credit where credit is due.
Maybe that is why Rashford struggled to stay on his feet for the half hour he remained on the pitch after half-time. One moment in particular proved significant, when he went down under Walker’s challenge before Phil Foden fired the equaliser.
‘Soft contact,’ said Ten Hag and it would have been a soft free-kick for referee Andy Madley to give.
But here is the difference between players like Foden and Erling Haaland, who are fulfilling their potential, and someone like Rashford who, frankly, is not.
Having scored his first, Foden bust a gut to get a decisive second. Having toiled in front of goal and been guilty of an incredible miss, Haaland got his reward in stoppage time. That is six for the week for him, as many as Rashford has scored all season. These are the differences between City and United.
Having exploded into this game, Rashford then fizzled out. Even allowing for an injury on this occasion, it is not the first time this has happened. Knowing how brilliant he can be only makes the mediocrity all the more unfathomable.
When he felt compelled to pen a first-person piece in the Players’ Tribune this week defending his commitment to United, Rashford rather missed the point. He wrote about the criticism he has faced, even before that ill- advised getaway in Belfast.
He alluded to the envy of those people he feels have had it in for him since he was awarded an MBE for campaigning against child food poverty and an undertone of racism towards a black footballer who has a £300,000-a-week contract and all the trappings of fame.
The reality feels so much more simple. People just want to see Rashford playing football the way we know he can and with a smile on his face.
He wrote about having to get four buses across Manchester to train with United’s academy at the Cliff. ‘Then the same back home, just to chase my dream of playing for United. And that’s not me moaning, not at all. I loved every second of it.’
It feels as if Rashford needs to rediscover that love for football and for United. Big changes are coming at Old Trafford under Ineos and some fans would not be sorry to see the back of him.
That would be a great shame. We have just passed the eighth anniversary of his sensational breakthrough at United in 2016 but it still feels he has so much more to give.
Days like this only go to highlight the best and the worst of him. In spite of it all, there will always be the hope that, at 26, the best of Marcus Rashford is still to come.