Rashford responds to accusations of ‘fuming’ at Solskjaer after being benched by Man Utd

Chris Burton

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Rashford responds to accusations of ‘fuming’ at Solskjaer after being benched by Man Utd image

Marcus Rashford has rubbished any suggestion that he was “fuming” at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after being benched in Manchester United’s win at Tottenham, with the 24-year-old saying too much is being read into his goal celebration.

The England international was handed a 19-minute cameo in north London, with Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo asked to lead the line as the Red Devils tweaked their tactical approach to go with two up top.

Rashford still made an impact, as he put the finishing touches to a 3-0 win four minutes from time, but he has faced accusations of looking irritated and sending a message to his manager when finding the target.

What has been said?

Former United midfielder Owen Hargreaves told Premier League Productions after a welcome victory for Solskjaer’s side: “I think you could see that in his celebration, he was fuming.

“But when two legends of the game are playing ahead of you it’s hard to complain in a sense.

“He [Solskjaer] is never going to drop Ronaldo, he needed somebody else in there and Cavani was fabulous last season. He probably deserved to start sooner.”

How did Rashford respond?

Rashford has been left baffled by the response to his actions, with the exciting forward adamant that there was no show of petulance on his part against Spurs.

He has posted on Twitter: “Fuming at the manager??! We won the game.

“That celebration was pure relief! It’s been a hard week…”

The bigger picture

Rashford has started just one Premier League game for United this season – the humbling 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool – and taken in only four appearances across all competitions following his recovery from shoulder surgery.

He also found himself caught up in a supposed storm with Solskjaer when the Red Devils boss told reporters ahead of a 4-2 reversal at Leicester that a politically active member of his squad should “maybe prioritise his football and focus on football because he’s got a challenge on his hands here”.

Any issue there was quickly swept under the carpet, but United are still facing uncomfortable questions on and off the field as they seek to find consistency as a collective in 2021-22.

Further reading

Chris Burton