French Media Make Marcus Rashford Feelings Clear After PSG vs Aston Villa
Daniel Hepburn
21 – 27 minutes
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Rashford was instrumental in Aston Villa’s opener, which was finished off by Morgan Rogers. Stationed in the centre-forward berth by Emery, he peeled off on the left, played an inch-perfect pass to Youri Tielemans, who squared it to the goalscorer.
However, PSG triumvirate Desire Doue, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Nuno Mendes all got on the scoresheet for the hosts, who now have one foot in the Champions League semi-finals. That’s dependent on whether all goes well at Villa Park in the return leg.
The Englishman was replaced by Ollie Watkins in the 79th minute
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PSG, a club that are perennial winners of France’s top flight, are no strangers to what Rashford is able to produce. Back in 2019/20, for the Red Devils, the 27-year-old rose to the occasion with that match-winning penalty. Watch it, as a reminder, below:
But how are the French media reacting to his performance this time around? Get French Football News gave the Englishman – who is set to return to Old Trafford in the summer – a 3/10 rating as PSG’s sound defending thwarted his talent.
“Aston Villa struggled to establish any level of control in the PSG half throughout, which naturally limited Rashford’s ability to get into the game. He made just 29 touches, losing possession on eight occasions. He was, however, culpable of not holding the ball up better and allowing the away side to build moves.”
Elsewhere, FootMercato were also critical of Rashford’s 79-minute cameo. They highlighted the fact that it took him 22 minutes before enjoying his first touch of the ball in PSG’s box. “The Englishman touched his first ball in the Parisian camp in the 22nd minute, as a symbol of his very difficult match.
“He was, however, an important relay on the goal action, on which he launched Tielemans in the surface (35th).” the French publication continued. “But that was about all he could offer.”
Marcus Rashford
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On PSG’s bright start and Rashford’s side’s inability to launch attacks of their own, France’s 90min, per football365, wrote: “Unavailable for 25 minutes, the English striker had a strange start. His team suffered waves of Parisian attacks; his contribution was less.”
Rashford – who enjoyed one of the best debuts in Premier League history – played 79 minutes and enjoyed a 33% (1/3) dribbling success rate. He also took just 29 touches – 17 of which were accurate passes, while winning just 25% (1/4) of his duels.
Rashford
“It was as the match progressed that he finally showed himself, in what the Villans master best: quick transitions,” they wrote before adding, “Initially somewhat clumsy, he managed several important technical moves.”
On Rashford’s display, they concluded: “On a long ball from Rogers, he took advantage of a misjudgement from Beraldo to rush into the box and send a back pass that was ultimately cleared by the Parisian defence.”
