Marcus Rashford has emphatic response for Wayne Rooney after Man Utd exit hint
Marcus Rashford responded emphatically to Wayne Rooney criticising his body language and leadership, as the Manchester United forward slotted home a spot-kick against Everton.
The Red Devils reignited their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League with a 2-0 victory at Old Trafford, with Bruno Fernandes and Rashford both scoring from the penalty spot. It wasn't the most convincing performance from United, but they did enough to secure a vital three points.
As for Rashford, he was questioned by former United forward and team-mate Rooney before the match. Speaking while working as a pundit for TNT Sports, Rooney said: "I don't think Marcus [Rashford] is a leader. Sometimes his body language isn’t the best in that regard, I'd look more towards Casemiro, Varane, Bruno as captain.
"They are players that should be getting the best out of Marcus because sometimes as a striker, you do need your teammates to help draw the best out of you. Sometimes you can overthink the game and Marcus, I think he overthinks it or it looks that way."
But Rashford responded in the best possible way to criticism from Rooney as he scored from the penalty spot to help United beat Everton. After Alejandro Garnacho was fouled inside the box for the second time, Fernandes handed the ball over to Rashford and the forward made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Jordan Pickford the wrong way.
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It was a cool spot-kick from the 26-year-old, who showed composure and calmness to put United 2-0 up after Fernandes had scored earlier in the match. Rashford could have scored himself before half-time as he ran down the left-hand channel but his low strike was deflected just wide.
Although Rashford took the second penalty, Rooney admitted he would have liked the forward to take the first spot-kick ahead of Fernandes. At the interval, Rooney said: "I think for me, I would’ve liked to have seen him stamp his authority down, tell Bruno Fernandes that he wants that first penalty.
Marcus Rashford has now scored his last three penalties against Everton (Getty Images)"I know he takes the second one but I want to see him take that responsibility. As a goalscorer, you want every opportunity you can get your hands on to score goals.
"He did well, he’s a great penalty taker and Marcus should be saying to him he wants it - I know he’s the captain and you probably want to have that one penalty taker you can rely on but I just want to see Marcus score goals, maybe I'm a bit biased!"
Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag praised United's team spirit after Rashford took the responsibility off Fernandes. He said: "He’s good in the game, he’s good in the team and it just shows our team spirit.
"We have very good penalty takers, Casemiro as well, we have more. After the first one, he also gave the penalty to Rashy - at the moment, he’s in the team, he’s got a good spirit and he’s a threat."
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