Marcus Rashford scored twice to send Aston Villa into the FA Cup semi-final against Preston North End and secure a trip to Wembley.
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Man United loanee Marcus Rashford scored twice to send Aston Villa to Wembley.
Man United loanee Marcus Rashford scored twice to send Aston Villa to Wembley.
(Image: Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford was in inspired form for Aston Villa as they brushed aside Preston North End to reach the FA Cup semi-final. The 27-year-old capped an important fortnight with a brace after returning to the England squad in Thomas Tuchel's first selection.
Unai Emery's side were tasked with overcoming the lower-league opposition in the quarter-final and found it difficult to break down the Championship side during the first-half of their last-eight contest.
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However, it was the United academy graduate who broke the deadlock after converting from Lucas Digne's cut-back. Rashford was a constant threat to the Lillywhite's defence and should have had an assist to his name after doing brilliantly to beat the Preston full-back.
But his pass into the danger area was missed by Jacob Ramsey as the Villa midfielder couldn't make the desired contact. Rashford made no mistake from the spot after he was handed the opportunity to double his tally for the afternoon when Morgan Rogers was brought down by Andrew Hughes.
Ramsey added a third in the latter stages ensuring that Villa cruised into the semi-final where they will play Crystal Palace.
Dion Dublin said: "Knowing full well he can finish when he wants to finish, he's calm under pressure and he makes so many runs. I think we're all in the agreement here, we'd like to see him on the left but if he's asked to do a job down the middle and score goals, he'll do it.
"As soon as you give him the option to score goals, he will, he's a potent striker when you give him lots of chances."
Micah Richards added: "What I would say is that it was a big move for him because a lot of people said he would fail but game by game, he's getting better and more confident. He said in his interview about playing better football, I think that's down to the manager and how Aston Villa play, when you've got a manager who believes in you, you can do special things.
"His whole body language looks a lot better now, he's confident now. That's the best way to shut people up."
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