Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has suggested that striker Marcus Rashford was left annoyed at Erik ten Hag as he missed out on a Red Devils’ record.
The England striker was selected to start for the Premier League side in their FA Cup fourth round tie with Championship side Reading at Old Trafford. Ahead of the match, he was aiming to extend his electric form this season.
A strike against Reading would have seen Rashford set an all-time record of netting in ten consecutive home matches. He thought he had done just that having nodded home Wout Weghorst ’s header across goal.
Despite the referee initially awarding the goal, it was eventually ruled out by VAR for an offside offence. The Red Devils went on to chalk up a comfortable win as Casemiro twice got on the scoresheet, whilst Fred also found the back of the net.
Rashford was eventually not able to secure his record having been replaced by Alejandro Garnacho midway through the second-half. Maguire claimed that Rashford would likely have been left annoyed by being taken off but it was a decision that the England defender agreed with.
Speaking to club media, he said: "Yes it was obviously disappointing for him [Rashford]. I think he’d have been really wanting that record and then the manager subbed him off and I’m sure he wasn’t happy with that either.
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“Listen, there’s bigger things to win. Although records are nice, it’s a team sport and we need Marcus. Our team needs Marcus fit and ready for these big games coming up. So it’s probably a wise decision from the manager.”
Rashford, 25, has found some electric form for Man Utd this season following the arrival of Ten Hag. He leads the side’s goalscoring ranks with 18 strikes to his name in all competitions so far this season.
Revealing his reasoning for taking the striker off against Reading, the Dutchman said: “Yes, it’s a pity for him and for him we had to take him off because there are so many games that are coming up and we need to keep him fresh but he deserved that goal. It would have been a record.
“And we know that but in the long term we need him. The disallowed goal is a frustration and I don’t think it was a disallowed goal.”
Rashford will be aiming to start another Old Trafford goalscoring streak next week with the Red Devils having two home clashes to navigate. United take on Nottingham Forest in their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg on Wednesday having already secured a 3-0 win in the East-Midlands.
They then return to Premier League action by hosting Crystal Palace in the Premier League next weekend.
