Erik ten Hag has praised Marcus Rashford’s confidence and focus as he struck his 30th goal of the season for club and country in the second leg of last-16 Europa League tie against Real Betis, as well as breaking Cristiano Ronaldo’s European goalscoring tally for Manchester United in the process.
The England international struck a stunning long-range screamer from the edge of the box in the second-half to seal a 1-0 win for United at Real Betis as Ten Hag’s side progressed to the Europa League quarter-finals with a 5-1 aggregate victory.
The strike moved him ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo into sixth in the club’s all-time rankings for goals in European competitions (25).
The 25-year-old has really stepped up after Ronaldo’s contract was mutually terminated during the World Cup, scoring 19 goals in 24 games for his club post-Qatar.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag was delighted to see Rashford shrug off his mistake after missing a golden chance just moments before his rocket of a strike clinched the win for United on Thursday night in Spain as he urged his top scorer to continue finding the back of the net on a consistent basis.
Ten Hag said: “The team was creating some chances. Rashy had some chances before and he missed some but he kept his belief, he kept trying, and got his reward.
“All good strikers know that not every chance you will get a goal but at this level, you don’t create five or six chances in a game so one of the two has to be in.”
Rashford is also at the top of Europa League goal-scoring charts this season with six goals so far as he continues to be the driving force behind Manchester United’s success so far this season.
The Red Devils will be in the Europa League quarter-final draw on Friday, while on Sunday they face Fulham in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
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