HARDWORKING DEVIL: Marcus Rashford puts in high work rate as cover for teammates against Aston Villa despite won 2/6 duels

Coming off a series of disappointing results, Man United needed to grab a win in order to take any pressure off manager Erik ten Hag, who continues to be under fire following his team’s shambolic start to the season.

One of the main problems faced by United was their ineffectiveness in front of goal, a problem that has plagued Ten Hag’s side throughout this season.

Still, Marcus Rashford displayed some keen attacking intent, showing some promise on the attack despite his team lacking the final product overall.

From the start of the match, Rashford put in a high work rate, racing into the box minutes after kick-off and thumping in a hard shot from close range to force a save from the goalkeeper.

During the second half, Rashford continued to show attacking intent, making a series of promising runs and drilling in a thunderous shot from distance that forced the goalkeeper to tip the ball over the crossbar.

With two shots on target from two, it appears that Rashford has been working hard on his accuracy. He also completed his only dribble of the game.

Taking only 26 touches throughout the match, Rashford was effective with the ball at his feet and not only in his opponents’ final third. While his passing accuracy was just 68% due to 13 of his 19 passes reaching their intended target, he did make one key pass, exhibiting his desire to create goalscoring opportunities for others as well.

Still, his long balls and crosses left a lot to be desired, as none of his two long balls nor one cross were accurate.

Rashford struggled to beat his Villa opponents physically, winning just one of his six ground duels as well as one of his two aerial battles.

Perhaps the biggest concern about Rashford’s performance was his poor discipline.

Rashford committed his first foul just before the hour mark when he took down Matty Cash near the touchline, receiving a yellow card in the process.

Mere seconds later, an ill-tempered Rashford clattered into Leon Bailey, handing Villa a free kick from a dangerous position on the edge of the box. What’s more, he was fortunate that the referee decided to let him off with a warning, especially since the tackle was worthy of a yellow card, which would have resulted in a sending-off for Rashford.

Clearly noticing Rashford’s loss of composure, Ten Hag substituted him for Antony straight after, refusing to run the risk of going down to 10 men for the final 30 minutes of play.

Although Rashford worked hard and became one of United’s few forward threats, his short fuse almost cost United the match when he committed two fouls in rapid succession that, had the referee been less lenient, may have turned the tide in Villa’s favor. It is obvious that the United winger has to gather himself before United plays Brentford in two weeks.