Michael Owen slams Manchester United pair.
Michael Owen has slammed Raphael Varane and Marcus Rashford for their “criminal” decision-making during Man United’s 2-2 draw with Leeds United on Wednesday night.
Second-half goals from Rashford and Jadon Sancho saw the home side escape with a draw, after Leeds went 2-0 up thanks to a Wilfried Gnonto strike and a Varane own goal.
In between the two Red Devils goals, Leeds could have had a third, as Brenden Aaronson’s free-kick bounced off the foot of David de Gea’s post.
As the American stepped up, Rashford and Varane created a gap in the wall as they jumped, allowing the shot to make its way towards the goal.
Michael Owen: “That’s criminal.”
“I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe this wall,” Owen told Premier League Productions. “Look at the way they split – Varane and Rashford they just split. The ball goes low, right through the middle, it didn’t go over the wall at all.
“If that goes in, and they both turn away, that’s criminal. I mean, if that goes in there’s serious, serious words being had after.
“You simply cannot do that. You need to be big, brave and bold in a wall and to turn your back and split. Everything you cannot do they did there.
“They’ve got away with it. They better look at that and think, ‘wow, that’s pretty embarrassing, we can’t do that again’”.
Marcus Rashford’s electric Man United form.
Despite Rashford being called out for the error, the England man impressed Owen with his performance further up the field.
Since scoring three goals for his country at the World Cup in Qatar, Rashford has found the net 13 times in 14 appearances for Man United, and looks like a completely rejuvenated player when those stats are compared to his performances from last season.
“He must have come back from the World Cup with a lot of confidence,” said Owen. “Everybody knows what a good player he is… how frustrating was it to watch him that year or two-year period just before this season?
“When you’ve watched him for all these years and think ‘what a player this lad is,’ and then all of a sudden everything seemed to evaporate in front of our eyes.
“All of a sudden, he’s bounced back now and whether it was his off-field stuff, whether it was mental or injury problems, we weren’t seeing the true Marcus Rashford.
“But if he keeps this type of form up, if this is him for the rest of his career, we’re going to be talking about a seriously-talented player and one of the best in the world.”
NEVER give up! Unfortunately, we didn't get the win but we fought back to get a draw. pic.twitter.com/E9TxEgN79y
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) February 8, 2023
Highlights.
They next opportunity for Rashford to continue his purple patch in front of goal will come on Sunday, when Man United travel to Leeds for the return fixture with their arch-rivals.
Highlights of Wednesday night’s game, including the free-kick incident to which Owen refers, can be found here.
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