PRESTON NORTH END 0-3 ASTON VILLA: Marcus Rashford bagged his first goals since moving to Villa Park on loan to send Unai Emery's men through to the FA Cup semi-finals
Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford was influential as Aston Villa cruised through to the FA Cup semi-finals (
Image: Getty Images)
Andy Dunn
In recent weeks, there has been a tendency towards over-correction when judging Marcus Rashford’s impact at Aston Villa. Quite simply, he was probably not as bad at Manchester United as some people made out - and probably not as good as some suggested after making the loan move.
And the over-correction might continue. But it is now fair to suggest the swagger of someone who remains one of English football’s most exciting talents has returned. The fun is back, the cheeky penalty, the no-look passes, the step-overs, the dancing feet.
There is a caveat, obviously. Preston North End are not only a Championship side, they are a very limited Championship side.
And as club director Peter Ridsdale repeatedly stressed on a radio station on the morning of this game, the wage bill for Paul Heckingbottom’s entire squad amounts to the same figure taken home by Rashford.
It is not unreasonable to expect the England attacker to cause a team such as Preston some problems. But it was still a performance of some significance from Rashford, who now looks like a player who wants to be at the heart of things.
He wants to take the corners, creating a very rare first half chance for Ezra Konsa with one nicely-delivered effort. He wants to take free-kicks, although there was nothing in two of his dead-ball efforts that will convince Unai Emery to encourage him to keep doing so.
But more importantly, he looks like he really wants to get on the ball, whereas for a while at United, it looked like he could take it or leave it.
Rashford scored twice for Aston Villa against Preston (
Image:
James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
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Until he produced a routine side-footed finish to put Villa ahead early in the second half - from a nice Lucas Digne assist - Rashford’s endeavours had been frustrated by disciplined Preston defending. But at least they were serious endeavours, at least they were energetic endeavours.
Emery has given him responsibility - Rashford converted the spot-kick after Andrew Hughes had fouled Morgan Rogers - and the player has responded.
As if it needed confirming after Rashford’s double, Jacob Ramsey rubber-stamped Aston Villa’s semi-final place with a decent strike, meaning Rashford will head back to Wembley not long after a couple of decent outings for England at the same venue
Rashford finally seems to have his swagger back (
Image:
Stu Forster)
And in the meantime, he has a mouth-watering Champions League quarter-final against Paris St Germain to look forward to.
No, Rashford might not be playing as sensationally as some say but it is still some turnaround to his season. It helps that he has dropped into a team that is significantly more accomplished than Manchester United.
He is playing in front of colleagues who are top-class. Whether he is playing mainly centrally, as he was here, or from the left, he is making runs that are, in the main, picked up by deeper-lying midfielders such as Youri Tielemans. Rashford has also developed a productive understanding with Marco Asensio in impressively quick time.
It will be fascinating to see what happens at the end of the season when Rashford has to make another decision on his future. If he continues to hint strongly at a consistent return to his best, there will be plenty of suitors, no doubt.
But that is for then. For now and in the two months of the season, Rashford has plenty to tackle - and it looks like he will tackle it with his swagger back.
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