Marcus Rashford netted twice as Aston Villa eased past Preston to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Sunday – and the Manchester United loanee was clear on what has changed
Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford has explained the reasons behind his much improved form at Aston Villa. Rashford scored his first Villa goals in their 3-0 win over Preston on Sunday to book their place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
He joined Villa on loan until the end of the season in January after being frozen out by Ruben Amorim at United. The forward has been playing well under Unai Emery’s management, laying on four assists to earn a place in Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad.
Rashford started for England in their wins against Albania and Latvia and returned to Villa brimming with confidence for their quarter-final at Deepdale on Sunday afternoon.
After a quiet first half, he opened the scoring with a tap-in from Lucas Digne’s low cross and doubled the lead from the penalty spot with a calm strike after Morgan Rogers was fouled.
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Jacob Ramsey added a third for Villa, but it was Rashford who scooped the man of the match award. “It’s a great feeling, I feel like I’ve been getting fitter and playing better football since I’ve been here. It’s obviously nice for a forward to get a goal so hopefully it continues,” he told the BBC.
“I think we have to just take it one game at a time and give it 100 per cent on the pitch and see where it takes us. We’re a very ambitious team – we want to win and try and get as far as we can in all competitions and we also want to push to get back into the top four.”
Asked how close he was to his top form, Rashford added: “Step by step. I think I can still get fitter. I missed a lot of football before joining up with them. At the minute my body feels good, I’m injury-free and I’m enjoying my football, so all good for now.”
Villa can sign Rashford on a permanent deal in the summer if they pay United £40million and with every good performance that possibility appears more likely. It appears to be a mutually beneficial move and Emery is pleased with what he’s seeing.
“He’s getting confident, scoring goals,” he said. “He’s committed to work and to adapting quickly. Then, he needs to feel comfortable playing at his best level. When he came here, he had not been training consistently for the past two months. He’s been playing more and the two games with England helped him feel better.
“He has been playing as a left winger. We decided here to play him as a striker to get his best qualities, his power and confidence. He took one step forward. But there’s still work to do.”
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