Club Brugge star ‘drowning’ after Marcus Rashford incident v Aston Villa
Marcus Rashford’s “momentum” and “power” sparked the most noteworthy incident in the first half of Aston Villa’s 3-0 win over Club Brugge.
Unai Emery’s side went into Wednesday’s last-16 second leg at Villa Park with a 3-1 advantage from the first in Bruges last week, with the Villans already one foot having in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Emery made five changes from Villa’s 1-0 win over Brentford in the Premier League last time out, and his decision to recall Marcus Rashford to the starting lineup had a devastating impact for the visitors.
Rashford has managed to rediscover some of his best form since joining Villa from Manchester United, and played a key role as Marco Asensio and Ian Maatsen’s goal sent them through 6-1 on aggregate.
Upson reacts to Aston Villa v Club Brugge incident – ‘I feel for him’
Rashford was at the centre of the first-half’s headline incident at Villa Park, as his run in behind Club Brugge’s defence from an Emi Martinez long ball resulted in a desperate challenge from Kyriani Sabbe.
| Aston Villa | Statistic | Club Brugge |
| 0 | Goals | 0 |
| 0.21 | xG | 0.12 |
| 2 / 4 | Shots on Target | 1 / 4 |
| 33% | Possession | 67% |
| 0 | Corners | 1 |
Sabbe got the wrong side of Rashford and brought him down on the edge of the box, and commentating for BBC Radio 5 Live (12 March, 8:17pm), Matthew Upson wasn’t surprised when a red card emerged.
Upson said: “Well, I feel for the young right-back… it’s 100 per cent a foul, and it’s 100 per cent a red card, the referee has absolutely no option.
“Brugge – the line is so high up the pitch, and Rashford just bends his run, times it well, runs inside the young full-back.
“The moment it goes over the top, the ball skids off the greasy surface – I’m sat here and I’m just feeling for him straight away, because he’s just drowning at that point.
“Marcus Rashford has the momentum, he has the power to get on the end of the ball. [He] gets across the face of him, and he just clumsily trips him up.”
Marcus Rashford makes the difference for Aston Villa
While Rashford has often been used as an impact substitute to good effect by Emery since his arrival from Old Trafford, starting the England man against Brugge was a statement of intent by the Spaniard.
Emery’s side didn’t become dominant on the ball after the visitors went down to 10 men, with Brugge keeping 67 per cent of the first-half possession, but they have a game-breaker in the form of Rashford.
With Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Rashford making up a pacy Villans frontline, Club Brugge losing their right-back so early in the game left them open to be exposed down the hosts’ left-hand side.
That proved to be the case after the introduction of Asensio for the second half, with Rashford teeing up the second goal of an 11-minute brace for the Villans substitute and Maatsen scoring in between.