RASHFORD RIPS ARSENAL APART MATT LAWTON
United’s boy wonder gives Gunners a rude awakening
ON any other day, the sight of Louis van Gaal f al l i ng theatrically to the ground in apparent protest, and perhaps even of Sir Alex Ferguson pumping his fist and singing along to a burst of ‘Glory, Glory Man United’, would have provided the enduring image of this encounter.
But nobody was going to upstage Marcus Rashford, the teenage phenomenon ending a remarkable week with a staggering display against an Arsenal side supposedly contesting the Premier League title.
Two goals against Midtjylland were a fine start for the 18-year-old, but to repeat the feat against opponents of significantly greater stature mark him out as special.
Rashford is a striker who displays the poise and predatory instincts of a young Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer and appears to possess a proper turn of pace as well as two great feet. Long before the two goals he scored in a stunning three-minute firsthalf spell, he split two defenders with a terrific burst of speed.
That athleticism, when allied with clinical finishing and a knack for arriving in the right place at the right time, makes him a real prospect. He was even the provider of United’s decisive third goal from Ander Herrera.
Arsene Wenger’s side should have been able to take three points against a United team weakened by Thursday night Europa League action and an injury list that forced van Gaal to deploy Michael Carrick and Daley Blind as a makeshift centre-half pairing.
Three kids from United’s junior teams made their Premier League debuts — Tim FosuMensah and James Weir joined the contest from the bench.
But Arsenal were second best in every aspect of the game, even if they did manage to score two goals through Danny Welbeck and Mesut Ozil.
One only has to look at Rashford to appreciate why it was only last autumn that he made his debut for Manchester United’s Under-21s.
He is tall but has the slight frame of an adolescent, and a team of Arsenal’s quality really should have provided more of a test for him. As it was, they allowed him to bully them and become the youngest player in Premier League history to score twice on his debut.
‘It’s crazy,’ said Rashford. ‘I can’t explain, when you’re out there, the rush of blood, everything.
‘This was my first game in the Premier League and it’s been amazing. It’s a bonus to score two. I scored with my first shot, the same as the Europa League.’
Arsenal were nothing like as impressive, this untimely loss of their mojo is sure to concern Wenger with a trip to Tottenham coming up on Saturday.
Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness savaged the Gunners’ lack of heart after their lacklustre performance.
‘Arsenal bordered on being a joke,’ said the 62-year-old Scot. ‘Big players make other players play. The big personalities, the big players drag the lesser likes with them when things are going badly.
‘It worries me that Arsene continually talks about his team being mentally tough. It’s like they lack it and he’s trying to persuade them they have it. Today showed you learned a great deal about Arsenal.
‘They’ve been so insipid, so weak and pussyfooted.’
The truth is that United just wanted it more and nobody appeared as ravenous for three precious points than Rashford, the youngster opening the scoring in the 29th minute after seizing on Gabriel’s failure to clear a Guillermo Varela cross by drilling in a shot that flew into the roof of Petr Cech’s net.
Rash ford’ s second, three minutes later, was textbook United — a cross from Jesse Lingard, met by a glancing header from the boy wonder.
Welbeck responded for Arsenal eight minutes later, heading a free-kick from Ozil beyond the reach of David de Gea. Still chasing the game, Wenger relented in the second half and sent on Olivier Giroud for Theo Walcott but to no avail. United struck again, Herrera scoring with a shot which deflected off Laurent Koscielny.
Ozil gave the Gunners hope after de Gea had saved from Welbeck in the 69th minute.
But a patched-up United side held on to secure a remarkable win, one that even had Ferguson singing along in celebration. MAN UTD (4-2-3-1): de Gea; Varela, Carrick, Blind, Rojo (Fosu-Mensah 55); Scheiderlin, Ander Herrera (Weir 90); Lingard, Mata, Depay; Rashford (Januzaj 80). Subs not used: Romero, McNair, Andreas Pereira, Riley. Booked: Varela, Carrick, Ander Herrera, Januzaj. ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Cech; Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin (El-Nenny 70), Ramsey; Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott (Giroud 63); Welbeck (Iwobi 83). Subs not used: Gibbs, Mertesacker, Ospina, Campbell. Booked: Ramsey, El-Nenny, Ozil. Referee: Craig Pawson. Attendance: 75,329. Man of the match: Marcus Rashford.