Casemiro’s header in the final minute lifted Manchester United over Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup, despite their continued lacklustre performance.
Erik ten Hag was under pressure going into the match, and losing in Round Five would have been difficult to take, but in the end, his team prevailed, setting up a tantalising quarterfinal matchup with Liverpool.
Once again, injuries had a significant role in the rearguard rotation. With Harry Maguire sidelined, Sofyan Amrabat took over at left back and Victor Lindelof went to the centre of defence.
Marcus Rashford was by far the weakest player on the pitch that evening, and the Manchester United player doesn’t seem to be interested. None of the players were especially good that evening.
He was always second in duels, couldn’t keep up with the action, and gave up easily if the other team got the ball past him. The academy graduate just never applied, and he is beginning to look like the player Ralf Rangnick took over a few seasons back.
The 26-year-old finished the game with a dismal passing accuracy percentage of 71 percent after only 15 of his 21 attempts to find a teammate were successful.
He only managed two shots, both of which missed the mark, and he was unable to get past the opponent once. He also had zero crosses and zero important passes.
In ninety minutes, he lost the ball eleven times and only prevailed in two of his five duels. In addition, he had no interceptions, no shots stopped, and no clearances.
Sofascore gave the Englishman the lowest score of 6.7 out of all United players. It’s obvious that Rashford is having difficulty stepping into Rasmus Hojlund’s shoes.
Ten Hag will be hoping for a speedy recovery for the Dane, because without a known goal scorer, the next matches against Manchester City and Liverpool seem nearly unachievable.
Bruno Fernandes, his captain, is a great source of inspiration for Rashford because he never gives up even when things don’t go his way.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is right to be open to Rashford leaving in the summer, since his head sinks at the first hint of strong opposition.
