Footage of Marcus Rashford’s ‘pressing’ for Manchester United against Luton goes viral, with the forward facing criticism for allowing Ross Barkley to breeze past him
Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford came under fire on Sunday for his ‘pressure’ against Luton Town.
While Erik ten Hag’s side left Kenilworth Road with all three points, the narrow 2-1 win and some individual performances highlighted where Man United will need to improve if they are to enclose Aston Villa and Tottenham above them.
One individual moment circulated on social media, showing Rashford trying to deny Luton’s Ross Barkley in his bid to advance up the pitch late in the match.
With Barkley in possession, Rashford pressed on, but still kept a reasonable distance from the former Chelsea man, without ever making a tackle for the ball.
When the 30-year-old midfielder found himself unable to round Rashford on the striker’s right, Barkley moved back and brought him to the 26-year-old’s left where he was able to fly around the Man United man.
Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford came under fire for his ‘pressure’ against Luton Town
The clip of Rashford trying to lock down Luton’s Ross Barkley went viral on social media
Although the whole process took precious seconds as Luton were desperate for a late equalizer against Man United, it failed to impress the Man United fans as Barkley was able to maneuver comfortably around him without feeling any pressure.
One clip was shared on X (formerly Twitter) with the joking caption: ‘Top urgent by Rashford. I don’t know how Ross Barkley got a tour from him’.
“I’d trade it for a bag of strawberry chocolates,” one user wrote in response to Rashford’s video, while another said: “A Jaffa cake would be a better distraction for Barkley than Rashford.”
One user said: ‘If it wasn’t so serious it would be funny. The state of that’, while another added: ‘Broooo Rashford looked like what I don’t know’.
A fifth said Rashford ‘trusts his teammates’, but accompanied this with a laughing emoji across the floor.
Rasmus Hojlund was the difference maker at Kenilworth Road, opening the scoring within 40 seconds, before being in the right spot moments later to score an ‘outrageous’ goal with his chest.
The Dane insisted he intended to score that goal, despite some claiming it was an accident that caused the ball to trickle into the net.
He told Sky Sports: ‘Yes (I meant it). I saw my body. I was surprised it was such a good cause to be honest. I try to train like this.
Rasmus Hojlund extended his goalscoring streak to six games with a brace at Luton Town
Hojlund’s early goal made him the youngest player to score in six consecutive Premier League games, 14 days after his 21st birthday. surpass Joe Willock‘s previous record of 21 years and 272 days old.
Manchester United will host Fulham in the Premier League next Saturday.
