Gary Neville hopes Marcus Rashford's last-gasp winner for Manchester United could prove to be the turning point of a challenging season during which he has looked "drained of energy and spirit".
Rashford, 23, struck in the 93rd minute to sink West Ham and send Old Trafford into frenzy on Saturday afternoon.
It was only the forward's fourth Premier League goal of the campaign, adding to his strike in Wednesday's 3-1 win over Brentford.
Rashford missed the first two months of the season as he recovered from shoulder surgery and he has struggled to replicate his best form since his return.
The England international had to defend himself against accusations of having "bad attitude" earlier in January as his scoring drought reached 11 games.
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But with goals off the bench in back-to-back games, Neville believes Rashford may have put his tricky spell behind him.
"The goal in the last minute is a big one for the club and for the scorer. It was really important for Rashford," the Red Devils legend said on his Sky Sports podcast.
"There were a lot of questions being asked of Marcus Rashford. I don't think it's fair when people say he's distracted as soon as he has a difficult patch.
"That's the easy thing to say. It's easy to point to the off-field stuff. But it was a big thing for him."
Neville was especially delighted to see Rashford celebrate his winner against the Irons emphatically, proving he still has a burning desire to score and win matches.
"It brought him joy and that's the most important thing for a footballer, passion and joy," the former right-back added. "You don't have to walk around with a smile on your face but you want to see joy or passion or fire.
"I don't want to see that face of nothing. I think Marcus in the last couple of months or so, he's just looked drained of energy and spirit. And that can't happen.
"You need emotion. It was a big moment for him and hopefully now that gives him the confidence to rise, puff his chest out and do the stuff that he can do because he's an excellent forward."
Rashford has not started a Premier League game since mid-December, but he will hope his recent form could convince interim manager Ralf Rangnick to start him against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fourth round.
The Red Devils' victory over West Ham saw them leapfrog the Irons to go fourth in the table, and their next top-flight outing is a trip to Burnley in early February.
