Rashford has struggled for a starting spot under Jose Mourinho since the arrival of Ibrahimovic, but he scored a stoppage-time victor against Hull City last month before linking up with the England Under-21 side, for whom he hit a hat-trick in their 6-1 thrashing of Norway.
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City host Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday in their first fixture in Champions League Group C, a pool which also features Guardiola’s old club Barcelona and Celtic.
As it turned out, Kompany did not feature during the game and Guardiola has now gone on to reveal that although the Belgian global is close to full fitness, City are handling his situation with extra care due to his previous injury record.
“I know it is a risk, because if you lose the ball it is a goal against us, but when we win with that, we win in many things”.
“It has nothing to do with experience or age because you have the kid then in the second-half and the kid looked like he was playing in the Under-18s versus Salford City”, Mourinho said regarding Rashford’s display, per Manchester Evening News.
“I didn’t anticipate the shot, actually, I didn’t think it was going to hit the post”.
“So I don’t open my mouth when Liverpool go and beat Arsenal, when City beat Man United here, when Man United beat Chelsea or Tottenham away, nobody opens their mouth with surprise because it’s a normal result”.
“I respect him a lot”.
When asked if some positions are up for grabs in the starting XI, Mourinho said only this: “Performances are the only way that I can decide”.
Diego Costa celebrates his goal against Swansea in the Premier League.
“We had a few players below that level and we were made to pay”.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic did manage to halve the deficit three minutes before half-time but the Red Devils couldn’t find a victor in the second half despite the introduction of strikers Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.
“The kid gave us what we had needed in the first half”.
“But we did not hit the target enough so it is always going to be hard to score”.
An error from City’s debutant goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who flapped at a deep free kick from Wayne Rooney, allowed Zlatan Ibrahimovic to pull a goal back. “I’m happy it gives an effect but, even if I was not here, they would still do good”. Frustration is when you want to do that, when you want to change something and you are not able to. The question has always been whether he turns up in the big matches. “But it’s what I am”.
And Mourinho has warned his under-performing players that their places are under threat.
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“I beat him, he beats me”.
