United's substitutes continue to make an impact

All three of the winger’s goals in the Premier League have come off the bench, converting efforts at Craven Cottage and Elland Road before the 18-year-old scored his breakaway goal against Wolves at the weekend.

The Reds are no strangers to prolific scorers off the bench over the years - the vivid memories of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s four-goal spree against Nottingham Forest in 1999, after entering the field in the 72nd minute, tell us that much.

United have been particularly fruitful in the second half of matches this season, too, with as many as eight different players scoring after being substituted on by Erik ten Hag.

THIS SEASON

United’s top goalscorer Marcus Rashford is enjoying a landmark campaign having netted 29 times in all competitions so far.

Registering strikes off the bench six times, the England international punished Omonia Nicosia and Charlton Athletic with braces, in addition to goals against Sheriff Tiraspol and Wolves.

Anthony Martial has also proven himself to be a clinical substitute, with the pick of the Frenchman’s five goals being a typically cool poacher's finish against Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg back in February.

Fred’s equaliser against Barcelona in the same month upped his contribution from the bench to three this season, the same as Garnacho’s tally, while Jadon Sancho has struck twice as a substitute.

The three remaining goals from our tally of 22 off-the-bench strikes are shared between Antony, Scott McTominay and Cristiano Ronaldo.

A HISTORY OF SUBSTITUTE GOALS 

The aforementioned Solskjaer achieved a staggering 29 goals over his 150 substitute appearances for the Reds, including his legendary 93rd-minute Champions League winner over Bayern Munich in 1999.

Rashford is within grasp of his former manager's record, however, ranking second on the all-time list with 24 goals – seven goals more than the joint-next best Javier Hernandez and Anthony Martial. The England international has taken just 99 matches to reach the total and boasts an impressive strike rate as a substitute.

Of course, under Ten Hag, Marcus has been a frequent starter and has thus achieved his highest-ever Reds tally for a season (29), with four matches still to play.

SUBSTITUTE GOALS BREAKDOWN (2022/23)

As the end of the season approaches, Ten Hag and United fans like will no doubt hope to see a similar impact off the bench in our final three league games of the campaign and June's FA Cup final against Manchester City.

Here is a breakdown of the goals scored from the bench by Reds so far this term and who they notched against, in order of frequency:

Marcus Rashford (6) – Omonia Nicosia x2 (A), Sheriff Tiraspol (H), Wolverhampton Wanderers (A), Charlton Athletic x2 (H)

Anthony Martial (5) – Manchester City x2 (A), Omonia Nicosia (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Everton (H)

Alejandro Garnacho (3) – Wolverhampton Wanderers (A), Leeds United (A), Wolverhampton Wanderers (H)

Fred (3) – Nottingham Forest (H), Reading (H), Barcelona (H)

Jadon Sancho (2) – Leeds (H), Tottenham Hotspur (A)

Antony (1) – Barcelona (H)

Scott McTominay (1) – Omonia Nicosia (H)

Cristiano Ronaldo (1) – Everton (A)