Manchester United 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa featured poor showings from a number of players, but Marcus Rashford in particular struggled.
The Englishman has been in fine form of late and it would have been fair to see him as a potential matchwinner going into the match.
He was rested for United’s midweek clash against Real Sociedad with the Red Devils’ trip to Birmingham in mind, but the move did not pay off.
With Rashford deployed on the right wing in the absence of both Antony and Jadon Sancho, the United star gave fans a reminder of why he so rarely plays in the position.
It was not for want of trying that Rashford struggled, having attempted three dribbles with two completed successfully.
He competed in a remarkable 12 duels – ten on the ground and two in the air – showing that he certainly was getting involved.
However in winning just three of those duels overall, Rashford showed that he was off the pace in competing for the challenges he got involved in.
Things just were not coming off for United’s number ten, with possession lost 15 times despite a fairly unadventurous display on the ball.
Rashford completed no key passes and failed to muster even a single shot.
With the forward at times being United’s main goal threat this season, in getting nowhere near even half a chance, Rashford underlined the problem with his team’s overall performance.
Man United face Aston Villa again on Thursday in the Carabao Cup, but it will be against Fulham in the Premier League where they will desperately need improvement from Rashford.
That match marks the last chance for points before the Qatar World Cup and United will be desperate to finish this section of the season as strongly as possible.
(All stats taken from SofaScore)
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