The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Rashford confident of revenge over Chelsea
Marcus Rashford is hoping to avenge Manchester United’s Stamford Bridge humiliation when they face Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Jose Mourinho’s return to his old stomping ground in October started badly and only got worse as the most successful manager in the Blues’ history saw his side succumb to a humbling 4-0 defeat.
“You’re not special any more” chanted some of the Chelsea fans on an afternoon that still sticks in the craw for many at United.
Mourinho’s side now have a chance to exact revenge in the FA Cup after the quarter-final draw pitted them against Antonio Conte’s Premier League leaders.
“I mean, at this stage of the competition you’re going to be facing a good team no matter where you go,” striker Rashford said of their sixth-round opposition. “I think we’ve just got to take it game by game. We’re on a good run of form and so are they, so I think it’ll be a good game.
“But we’ll go there confident and to win the game.”
Asked if United owed Chelsea one for October, Rashford added: “Yeah, definitely. They’ve got one over us.”
Rashford went on to tell MUTV of the winning attitude they will head to Stamford Bridge with as they had no interest in settling for a replay, something United will not have to worry about again this season.
The Football Association announced last May that quarterfinal replays would be scrapped, reverting to a sudden-death format in a bid to ease English football’s congested fixture list.
The possibility of a replay loomed large on Sunday as United struggled to overcome fifth-round opponents Blackburn, with Rashford having cancelled out Danny Graham’s stunning opener.
In the end a replay was avoided as substitutes Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic combined to produce the winner.
“I think that was the kind of missing bits that we needed in the game,” Rashford said of the duo’s second-half introduction.