The Manchester United star scored his first career hat-trick when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team made a Champions League statement by beating RB Leipzig
“Stick to football,” has been the response of many of Marcus Rashford’s critics of late to his fight to improve the lives of underprivileged children, and many believe he should focus on performing on the field rather than campaigning. outside the.
Rashford, however, is doing well when it comes to his football, with his 18-minute hat-trick as a substitute against RB Leipzig only proving he can pull off heroic deeds on and off the pitch at the same time.
“Is that Rashford for Prime Minister now?” joked a club administrator after the English international posted his first career treble at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Few in Manchester would have a problem with that after a week in which Rashford responded to disappointment at seeing a motion to extend free school meal vouchers during the upcoming school holidays rejected in the House of Commons by helping to mobilize the good samaritans from all over the world. the UK to try to ensure that no child is left without food during winter.
When Rashford’s third goal came into the net in injury time to complete a 5-0 win for the Red Devils, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer threw a fist into the air with both hands inside United’s dugout, knowing his team had made a statement of his own in the Champions League.
Many felt that United were the third best team in a group containing Paris Saint-Germain and Leipzig when the draw took place, but in the space of eight days, Solskjaer’s team, led by Rashford, has beaten the leaders. of Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga to take control. of Group H before the consecutive games against the rookie of the competition Istanbul Basaksehir.
And while the starters will go to Rashford for his scoring exploits, his manager must, for the second week in a row, take much of the credit.
Several observers believe that Solskjaer does not have the tactical capabilities to succeed as a top-level coach, and is only in United’s job due to his connections to the club from his playing days.
While that may have been true when he was originally signed in late 2018, he has now outwitted two notoriously excellent German tacticians in the last fortnight, with Julian Nagelsmann having tasted defeat to United in much the same way as Thomas Tuchel in Paris.
Both times, Solskjaer walked away from his favorite 4-2-3-1 formation, and he has six points to show for his efforts.
Here he opted for a diamond in midfield that included retirees Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba, as well as summer signing Donny van de Beek, to whom they have devoted more spine inches this week than he probably has ever done in his career.
Under intense scrutiny after a slow start to his United career, the Dutch international made a sold-out performance before being substituted midway through the second half, although it was Pogba and the ever-improving Fred behind him who really impressed.
Solskjaer has admitted that he may have got Pogba back from his positive Covid-19 diagnosis in September too quickly, but the France star had his hubris here as he showed all his capabilities when given time in possession.
Fred, meanwhile, has gotten better and better at understanding his role when United are out of possession, and he was a constant annoyance to Nagelsmann’s team as they aimed to launch their own attacks.
“I’m sure Fred covered every single pass on the field and it’s amazing how he comes back for the next one,” Solskjaer said of the post-match Brazilian, and suddenly the £ 52.5 million ($ 70 million) is starting to look like a decent investment after all.
While Solskjaer’s tactical shift allowed United to build a solid foundation, it will be the forwards who will get the most applause.
Mason Greenwood, back in favor after his mysterious illness saw him lose the last three games, escalated after being selected ahead of Rashford, opening the scoring in the first half with a nice angled shot over Peter Gulacsi.
It’s been a rough few weeks for Greenwood after his misdemeanor while on duty in England and reports that Solskjaer punished him for continually being late for training, something Solskjaer denies, but when he slipped on his knees into the void Sir Alex Ferguson . Having become the youngest Englishman to score in his first Champions League start since Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2011, he had a feeling the pressure was taking off his shoulders as a teenager.
However, it was Rashford who made sure there were no late counterattacks from the visitors.
Introduced from the bench shortly before Bruno Fernandes also entered the fray, the pair wreaked havoc as the England striker routinely found himself one-on-one with Gulacsi, and rarely fails in those situations.
Rashford even gave up the possibility of a possible hat-trick in the 86th minute when he set the ball on the spot for Anthony Martial to shoot a penalty, but four minutes later he found himself again unchallenged in front of goal to make sure of be taking home the game ball after all.
Only Solskjaer had come off the bench for United and scored a hat-trick, and the Norwegian scored four against Nottingham Forest in 1999.
“Marcus has shown that he can continue to focus on what is important on and off the court,” Solskjaer said after his 10th achievement.
Rashford continues to show that he is quite good at football. However, he will not “stick” to it. He still has more important fights to win.
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