United 2 Liverpool 1: How Rashford matched Best

Our no.10 latched on to Anthony Martial’s through ball after 53 minutes and showed great composure to slot the ball into the net beyond the onrushing Alisson Becker.

It turned out to be the decisive strike of the game, with Mohamed Salah later heading past David De Gea to halve the deficit, as United were forced to see out a nervy final 10 minutes.

And Marcus’s effort – celebrated in style before a frenzied Stretford End – also had historical significance.

At the age of just 24, it was Rashford’s fifth goal against our great rivals, in just 13 appearances.

Nine former United players can top that, but what can’t be bettered is the fact that all five of his strikes versus Liverpool have arrived at Old Trafford.

Rashford, of course, hit a match-winning double the last time we beat Liverpool in a top-flight match in M16, back in March 2018.

He also notched the opener in a 1-1 Premier League draw the following year and was once again on the scoresheet last January, as we edged past Jurgen Klopp’s side 3-2 in the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup. That game was played behind closed doors.

Marcus’s quintet of goals versus Liverpool at the Theatre of Dreams can only be matched by one post-war Red – a certain George Best.

Bestie was a scourge of Bill Shankly’s mid-1960s Liverpool outfit, scoring in the 1965 Charity Shield, which was shared following a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford.

He found the net four times across the next three league meetings in M16 too, including in another 2-2 draw during the victorious 1966/67 Division One campaign.

Pre-War forwards George Wall, Stan Pearson and Joe Spence also managed five home strikes in this fixture, before the rivalry was quite as fierce as it is these days.

One more goal will see Marcus match greats such as Denis Law, Bryan Robson and Wayne Rooney with six strikes in total against Liverpool, across all games played.

He’s still only 24, so there’s plenty of time – and perhaps he can eventually match Wall and Sandy Turnbull, who sit top of that list with nine.