Rashford moves ahead of Cantona and closes in on Beckham on Man Utd's goalscorer list

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Rashford moves ahead of Cantona and closes in on Beckham on Man Utd's goalscorer list image

Marcus Rashford moved ahead of Eric Cantona and closed in on David Beckham on Manchester United’s list of goalscorers with his effort against Southampton.

The England international’s strike on Tuesday was his 83rd for the Red Devils and saw him go past United’s French legend.

Rashford's big moment happened in the 25th minute of Tuesday's match, with Southampton having gone down a man within two minutes after Alex Jankewitz was sent off for a horror tackle on Scott McTominay.

After Aaron Wan-Bissaka opened the scoring, Rashford doubled Man Utd's lead as he was picked out near the penalty spot by Mason Greenwood.

Up next for Rashford on the list of scorers to tick off is Beckham, who found the target 85 times during his trophy-laded United career.

At 23 years of age, Rashford will have high hopes of going a long way up United’s list of scorers before his career at the club comes to a close.

Wayne Rooney is the Red Devils’ all-time top scorer with 253 goals.

The 23-year-old made his debut for United in February 2016, and gave an indicator of what was to follow by netting twice against Midtjylland in the Europa League.

It also showed how he was able to grasp an unlikely chance, as he was not expected to be in the starting XI but was thrust into the side after Anthony Martial picked up an injury in the warm-up.

At the time, the goals made him United’s youngest ever scorer in European competition, moving ahead of George Best. Mason Greenwood later broke the record in September 2019.

Following the game, then United manager Louis van Gaal said: “Rashford was unbelievable.

“In the first half he ran too much to the sides. At half-time I said ‘if you stay in the width of the goal you shall score’.

"And he got his first two goals for the senior team which was really fantastic for him.”

Goals and records have continued to come Rashford’s way. In March of 2016, Rashford scored in United’s win over City, to become the youngest player to net in a Manchester derby at the age of 18 years and 141 days.

The England international has an FA Cup, EFL Cup and Europa League trophy in his cabinet, but the Premier League is on the radar this term as they are firmly in the title mix.

While Rashford’s football has been doing the talking, he has also done a lot of good off the field. He has been working hard to fight child food poverty and has also attempted to combat homelessness, and was awarded an MBE for his services. 

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