MARCUS RASHFORD did “everything” that was asked of him in 30 minutes for Manchester United against West Ham on Monday, claims Martin Keown.
The former Arsenal defender was full of praise for the United striker on Match of the Day 2, insisting United’s second half sub was a ‘nightmare’ for the Hammers defence in the win at the London stadium.
Jose Mourinho’s side were struggling to break down a stubborn Hammers defence despite the home side being down to 10 men, and the ‘Special One’ replaced Jesse Lingard for Rashford providing the width and penetration that led to Juan Mata’s opener.
Slaven Bilic’s side just couldn’t deal with the 19-year-old who constantly stretched the Hammers defence as they tried to push for an equaliser.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic with his 18th goal of the season ended the game as a contest as United won their sixth league game on the spin to close in on the top four.
United were far form their best, but Keown was full of praise for the United and England teenager.
Keown said: “He’s a nightmare for defenders, he stops the ball, changes direction and it’s that change of pace and an intelligence of movement with him, Ibrahimovic, this time, needed that help on the pitch and he needed that movement and extra pace.
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He did everything in that game and he was only on the pitch for half an hour, it is easy for the person on the ball to find him, he knows exactly where he wants the ball" Keown added.
The United boss will be praised for changing things in the second half, but Rashford admitted post match he was simply following the managers instructions before entering the fray.
Rashford told Sky Sports:"He just told me to stay wide and try to isolate the full-back, that's what we did and I think in the end it helped the team get the points, just following orders of course and it was very important to get the points and we're all very happy."
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