The 18-year-old struck against Arsenal to became the club's youngest player to score in their first Premier League start having previously starred on his debut in Europe
There have been plenty of overnight sensations over football’s long history, but Marcus Rashford’s is fast becoming one of the most dramatic stories anyone can remember.
So little regarded by the wider world two games ago that even Arsene Wenger admitted he had never heard of the 18-year-old - Rashford’s name is now the talk of the Premier League.
"I watched him [Rashford] last night and he was quite impressive!," Wenger said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
"Rashford I didn't know but all the other players I knew. For us it's quite simple to prepare. We need to prepare on our side for a strong performance."
After netting the two goals which turned the tie in Manchester United’s favour against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League on Thursday, he scored twice more in the first half against Wenger’s Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday. The Frenchman is under no illusion who Rashford is now.
In truth, the striker had hardly had a touch before giving United the lead in the 29th minute but perhaps that says much about his nature. His finishing has been his greatest weapon at youth level, where he has netted 11 goals in 18 starts this season, and it was his clinical touch in front of goal which left Arsenal floored in Sunday’s encounter.
First he fired home confidently after Gabriel half-cleared a Guillermo Varela cross to become the youngest Manchester United player to score in his first Premier League start, and then, just three minutes later, he had superbly headed a second past Petr Cech from Jesse Lingard’s chipped cross.
Of the few moments Rashford had enjoyed on the ball before he found the net, he left Gabriel for dead and induced a desperate late tackle just outside the area which had produced his side’s best effort from Memphis Depay’s drilled free-kick effort.
Danny Welbeck’s goal had put the game back in the balance by half-time, but the Rashford effect remains telling on Arsenal. The Gunners, perhaps largely because they didn’t know he existed before Thursday night, barely know how to counter him.
For now, he is the unstoppable scoring machine. An unknown just three days ago, Marcus Rashford is now a Premier League phenomenon.
- Goal