Why Rashford threw Chelsea a real curveball

MARCUS Rashford explained he was tempted to try his luck with a free-kick from distance against Chelsea because he had noticed how aggressively the Carabao Cup balls were swerving during training earlier in the week.

The forward secured United’s place in the last eight of the competition with a memorable effort.

“It was the balls,” Rashford said. “In training, when we trained with them.

“When you shoot, with that up and down motion, they can go anywhere and thankfully it went in the top corner.

“It’s a positive day. Very, very tough game and we’re happy to come away with a win.”

On the first-half penalty he scored after missing from the spot against Norwich at the weekend, Rashford said: “I think you’ll always step forward to take it. When the moment comes, it’s just about trying to be relaxed.

“Thankfully today I was and it made the game a little bit easier for us.

“For me, the second goal was the one that killed the game because we’ve been there before when we’ve been at 1-0 and they do put a lot of pressure on you.

“We’ve come away with draws and losses from those games, so I always feel it’s the second goal that kills the game.”

United are now on a run of three away wins in succession having failed to win any of their previous 11.

“We’ve been in a tough place,” Rashford added.

“We’re still getting through that phase and the only way to do it is to fight your way through it and get three points because at the end of the day they’re the things that keep everybody happy.

“When you go home and you’ve won the game, whether it’s home or away, that’s when you wake up with a good feeling. So we just want to recreate that as much as possible this season.

“The main focus for us is improvement and development because we’re definitely going places.

“From pre-season, we did a lot of good work.

“The start of the season wasn’t exactly what we expected but we’ve got to get through it and get back to winning games.

“I don’t think we’re even half way playing to the potential of the team.

“The only way to get to that 100 per cent of what we can do is to keep putting the work in, keep listening to the manager and the coaching staff, and just keep believing.

“That’s what we’ve done today and you can see the result.”

The draw for the Carabao Cup quarter-finals will take place this morning.