Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford was part of a dynamic front three on Monday night which tore Spain to shreds, slotting the ball past David De Gea on three occasions. Here’s how it happened.
There was a lot of debate as to whether Marcus Rashford should have started the match due to the chances he squandered in Croatia on Friday night. However, England manager Gareth Southgate stuck with the 20-year old, hoping he would repay his faith.
Rashford did exactly that and was playing once again on the left of a front three which included Premier League stars Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling. The latter was also under severe pressure himself as the Manchester City winger had not found the back of the net for England in three years; a miserable record of two goals in 46 appearances.
How the first half unfolded
England were on the back foot straight away as Spain piled on some early pressure. Jordan Pickford’s head came of use early on blocking Marcos Alonso’s attempt to slide Sergio Ramos glancing header into the net.
The match continued at a frantic pace as both sides look to press one another. But on the occasion when either side beat the press it presented a chance to run at the oppositions back line.
England drew first blood as Jordan Pickford was involved once again. The Everton shot-stopper decided to take it upon himself to try and beat the press by driving a 50-yard pass to Harry Kane.
The Spurs striker turned and passed to Marcus Rashford further ahead of him on the left. Rashford cut inside and fed a beautifully weighted ball through to Raheem Sterling, who took one touch to get the ball out of his feet before unleashing a fierce strike into the top left corner.
If the first was a sweeping move from back to front, England scored their second with a big boot from back to front. Pickford launched the ball upfield with Kane, Ramos and Nacho all running to roughly the spot they assumed it would land.
Kane did well to retain possession whilst battling against the Spanish defenders. He turned Busquets whilst glancing across to a possible runner. That runner was Rashford, who received the pass from Kane before coolly slotting past De Gea.
England continued in their slick and ruthless manner. After some good play down the right, the ball found it’s way out to Ross Barkley 30-yards out from goal. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Kane making a run in behind and without a second to check again, Barkley clipped a beautiful pass over the defence for the on-running England captain. On the volley, Kane squared for Sterling, who 23 minutes beforehand had only scored two international goals, he’s since doubled that feat.
Spain piled on the pressure in the second half
After the break England retreated, forming two brick walls for Spain to try and play their way through. The pressure was always going to tell it was just a matter of how long England could hold and how much time would then be left.
Spain were on the hunt to pull another goal back but it was Jordan Pickford doing the pulling as his, “good old Cruyff turn”, caused him some trouble with Rodrigo Moreno. The Spanish team were convinced they should have had a penalty before Pickford managed to recover and tackle Rodrigo.
With 33 minutes still left on the clock, England moved to delay tactics in order to try and waste some valuable time. Although, it backfired when the fourth official indicated there will be a minimum of seven additional minutes.
Luckily for Gareth Southgate though, it wasn’t until 90+7, that Sergio Ramos powered home Spain’s second and last goal of the night.
Reaction to Marcus Rashford’s performance
Despite coming in for some stick after the match in Croatia on Friday, Marcus Rashford was deservingly praised after his performance against Spain on Monday.
His tidy finish does not confirm or deny that the youngster is a “natural goalscorer”, that label will come with time. However, the last week has brought to light that we should be patient with one of England’s and Manchester United’s great talents.
In fact, this last week has rather summed up Rashford’s career to date. Promising with the final finish lacking, on Friday. Devastating with a cool and mature head, on Monday. Let’s hope he continues in the same vein, as THAT night in Spain.