Rashford's pride at matching Viollet's feat

Monday 30 January 2023 14:24

Marcus Rashford was a VAR call away from breaking a club record for Manchester United, in the weekend's home win over Reading in the Emirates FA Cup.

Our no.10 seemed, appropriately, to have become the first United player to ever score in 10 consecutive games at Old Trafford when he headed past the visitors' goalkeeper Joe Lumley in the 35th minute.

Rashford raced away in delight, pointing to his temple in now trademark fashion, but his celebrations were curtailed when a VAR check found that the team-mate who assisted him, Wout Weghorst, was in an offside position during the build-up.

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The scoreline reverted to 0-0 and although the Reds eventually went on to triumph 3-1, Rashford was unusually not among the three second-half goals. The in-form forward was unable to find the net again in his 68 minutes on the field, before he was replaced by substitute Alejandro Garnacho.

Reacting to the incident later on Twitter, Rashford said: "Unfortunately, VAR got the better of me again today. That's three times this season.

"Breaking the record for consecutive goals at OT would have been incredible, but I'm proud to have equalled Dennis Viollet's record."

Rashford's previous strike at the Theatre of Dreams - his winner for the Reds in the recent derby triumph over Manchester City - drew him level with club legend Viollet on nine home matches in a row.

The Busby Babe's previously unique achievement was accomplished between August and December in 1959, when he netted in successive M16 outings against Newcastle United, Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Arsenal, Sheffield Wednesday, Fulham, Luton Town and finally Blackpool.

Rashford's own nine-match sequence stretched back to the Europa League success against Sheriff Tiraspol on 27 October 2022, four days before his 25th birthday.

The United Academy graduate followed that by grabbing goals in two more home games before the break for the 2022 World Cup - the Premier League victory over West Ham and the thrilling Carabao Cup win when Aston Villa were the visitors.

After returning from Qatar, Marcus picked up from where he left off at Old Trafford by slotting past the goalkeepers of Burnley, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Everton, Charlton Athletic and Manchester City.

Although Rashford's initial frustration at missing out on the 10-match record is understandable, helping United to win trophies this term and registering his best-ever tally for a campaign would well and truly put that behind him.

He is only four short of that particular landmark, having scored 18 goals in all competitions during 2022/23 so far, compared to a season-spanning 22 in 2019/20. And there could be another 33 games still to play between now and 31 May!

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