Teenager Marcus Rashford scored twice on his debut as Manchester United came from behind to thrash FC Midtjylland and reach the Europa League last 16 today.
Advertisement
In arguably his best performance for the Reds so far, Memphis tormented Andre Romer down United’s left all night, with the Midtjylland defender picking up a second yellow card for hauling back the Dutch attacker just before his 90th-minute strike.
“But I have to build him up in the games and that’s not so easy because he only had two training sessions with me – the first day with the second team and the second day with us”. They have a very organised defence, so in scoring five goals and creating 15 chances we played a fantastic game but we now have to do it against Arsenal. “I don’t think it is very heavy”.
It’s something of a whirlwind for a player who, before Thursday, had never started a game above under-19 level, and signed a professional contract at United only in 2014.
Fletcher Moss-based in Manchester suburb Didsbury-has produced a number of players who have gone on to United’s youth setup and senior side, including Danny Welbeck, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Tyler Blackett, Zeki Fryers and Ravel Morrison, per Hirst.
Van Gaal’s men rallied rather than wilted under the Old Trafford floodlights, though, with Nikolay Bodurov’s first-half own goal followed up after the break by a brace from teenage debutant Marcus Rashford.
De Gea is set to come into contention after missing three matches with a knee injury, while Martial (hamstring) and Smalling (shoulder) will face fitness tests before being given the all clear.
Having acknowledged his failure to justify his price tag in Manchester, Depay reminded supporters of what he can do with an outstanding individual display in a free-flowing United performance, which sealed a 6-3 aggregate triumph.
“Memphis is still a young player, like (Anthony) Martial and Jesse Lingard, Guillermo Varela and Joe Riley”, he said. Marcus Rashford’s two goals provided the type of story that fans lap up, perhaps even enough to, temporarily at least, take some of the heat off of Van Gaal.
Bookmakers’ favourites Borussia Dortmund was also handed a tricky route into the last eight after being drawn against Tottenham Hotspur, which is second in the Premier League behind Leicester City.
‘Take confidence’ “Arsenal away from home was the only time this season we have lost 3-0”, he said.
And Van Gaal, who has guided his team to back-to-back wins in the FA Cup and Europa League, is furious about the constant speculation and urged his club not to react to the reports.
Advertisement
“He is exhausted and he can be exhausted because he is 20 years old and he has played all the matches”. He found some great pockets of space and Midtjylland struggled to contain him.
