Rashford, who already has a winning goal at Hull and an England U21 hat-trick to his name this season, is yet to start under Mourinho but was sent on at half-time on Saturday with United 2-1 behind against a dominant Manchester City side.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled one back for United in the 42nd minute to set up an intriguing second half but a resilient City held out for a deserved three points.
Kevin De Bruyne’s composed finish and Kelechi Iheanacho’s tap-in placed Guardiola’s men on top in the first half that saw a flurry of attacks from the visitors.
“If one of my players do that in the middle of the park it’s a red card and a free-kick”.
Mourinho said: “Honestly, I had two or three players in the first half who, if I knew what I know now, I don’t play them”.
“Both times they let their opponents back into the game”.
“For me the next big game is against Feyenoord and the next game [Rashford] is going to play – that is the only thing I can say”, Mourinho told reporters.
In football, it’s about how you react to mistakes – it shows character.
Manchester City’s display in the opening 40 minutes against Manchester United made for “ominous” viewing for the rest of the Premier League, according to Oliver Holt.
Old Trafford was the focus of the sporting world on Saturday lunchtime as city rivalries resumed and managerial hostilities renewed, having fought an at times ugly battle with Pep Guardiola for LaLiga glory.
Mourinho switched to a 4-3-3 formation in the second half, meaning that Rashford was played wide on the left.
And the 33-year-old continued to threaten to undermine his new team-mates’ efforts, most notably when a heavy touch forced him to make a risky tackle on United skipper Wayne Rooney inside his own penalty area.
And the contest saw the Blues, particularly in the first half, once again produce the sort of slick, passing football with which their new manager has for so always been associated.
Mourinho replaced Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard at half-time in an effort to turn the game around but said his players did not perform.
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“Other players were also not playing really well and obviously, as well as my decision, I don’t like to go in the direction of singling out players”.
