1
Marcus Rashford has taken to social media to offer clarity on his controversial celebration following his goal against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
The 27-year-old produced a smart finish to cap off a well-worked goal with Rasmus Hojlund and put United 2-1 up at Old Trafford. He then ran and slid towards the crowd while making a gesture with his right-hand, as demonstrated below.
“He’s got no right to be upset, he’s not done the business”
Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp react to Marcus Rashford’s celebration 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/TI6MRnJRZC
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 14, 2024
The punditry team for Sky Sports – comprised of Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp – appeared to believe the hand symbol was intended as a rebuke to their negative commentary on Rashford.
Redknapp quickly told the forward he had “no right to be upset” while Keane questioned “why he seems to be upset with everybody?”
Rashford took to X (formerly known as Twitter) the day after to explain neither of the pundits were the targets of his symbolic message, but rather those who had questioned the 27-year-old’s loyalty after he had expressed support for Jadon Sancho on Instagram.
Rashford had commented with a love heart emoji and a ‘yesirrrrr’ after Sancho posted a picture of him in training for Borussia Dortmund with the caption ‘Good to be back on the pitch.’
Sancho re-joined the Bundesliga club on loan last week, bringing an to his exile from the United first-team following his public dispute with Erik ten Hag. The winger has not been allowed to train with the senior team and not played a minute of football since the end of August.
Fans then took to social media en masse to criticise Rashford for the show of support to Sancho, believing it to be a tacit critique of Ten Hag.
It was these critics United’s number ten was gesturing towards after his goal on Sunday, not Keane or Redknapp. As explained below.
Thank you for clarifying this matter.
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) January 15, 2024
A United fan (@eternallymoi) wrote on X: “[Rashford is] clearly referring to the abuse he’s been subjected to this week since he commented on Sancho’s post. They literally questioned his loyalty and commitment to us, and he did shut them up by scoring AND assisting…”
The forward then replied to this tweet with “Thank you for clarifying this matter.”
Rashford is perfectly entitled to show his support to a former teammate, and friend, regardless of that player’s long-standing issues with their manager. He’s also perfectly entitled to tell Jamie Redknapp to shut up if he wants, even if he wasn’t on this occasion.
Case closed, disaster averted.
