MAKING HIS MARC

JOSE Mourinho lauded Marcus Rashford’s ruthlessness after he scored his first Premier League goals in three months to seal victory over Liverpool.

Rashford struck in the 14th and 24th minutes of United’s 2-1 victory in what was his first league start since Boxing Day. The 20-year-old had been restricted to only two starts this calendar year prior to Liverpool’s visit, but was rewarded following a positive performance from the bench at Crystal Palace on Monday.

“He scored two goals in a big match against a top class opponent,” Mourinho said. “So of course he was fundamental, and the good thing was the first chance he had he got it, he scored, because I think the last few months that was not happening with him and he was feeling that a little bit in terms of self-confidence.

“But, a big game, probably unexpected, we trusted him, we felt the game could be adapted to his qualities.

“He’s improving a lot in training and sometimes that’s the point – media, fans, in relation to options you are not at the training ground. You don’t see what is going on, you don’t see how well or bad players are training, the self-confidence, the mood, and the feeling with him was that he was really improving a lot in the past few weeks.

“Against Palace we were losing, I played him immediately at half-time, so the feelings were positive.”