Marcus Rashford: Man Utd’s birthday boy just loves free kicks and Chelsea

Marcus Rashford left us all gobsmacked with his incredible free-kick to hand Manchester United a 2-1 win over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
Having already given the Red Devils the lead from the penalty spot in the first half, Rashford and his teammates were pegged back by Michy Batshuayi’s equaliser just after the hour mark.
But Rashford has well and truly rediscovered his spark in recent weeks and with the game heading into the final quarter and a penalty shootout looming, the England international stood over a free-kick and had his own ideas about settling the tie, drilling a 30-yard screamer beyond Willy Caballero with his trademark “knuckle-ball” technique.
I always open at least one present the night before 😅 https://t.co/5vcVn37xKZ
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) October 31, 2019
That was Rashford’s 52nd goal in 184 career appearances to date, drawing him level with fellow Three Lions forward Harry Kane at the same respective age, while he also ended his 21st year ahead of teammate Anthony Martial (48) and former Man Utd and Real Madrid icon Cristiano Ronaldo (47).
Perhaps more importantly, Rashford is garnering something of a reputation as the scourge of Chelsea, with Wednesday’s brace taking him to five career goals against the Blues – more than any other opponent he’s faced – and helped United extend their unbeaten record against the Londoners to five games.
Furthermore, three of his four free-kicks scored have now been match-winning efforts. He takes a lot of criticism but Rashford’s high-risk technique from set-pieces certainly yields rich rewards when executed correctly.
Up next for United is a trip to Bournemouth – a fixture Rashford is yet to lose in having scored three times against the Cherries.
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