Rashford obliterated after what he was spotted doing in Aston Villa loss v PSG
Marcus Rashford struggled as Aston Villa fell to a 3-1 loss against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
Manchester United loanee Rashford was heavily criticised for his performance as he struggled to offer much of note in attack.
Villa took a shock lead at the Parc des Princes through Morgan Rogers, only for Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to turn things around before Nuno Mendes’ killer late third.
It leaves the Villans with it all to do in next week’s second leg at Villa Park, where Rashford may be fortunate to retain his place.
Rashford slammed for performance at Parc des Princes
Rashford was Manchester United’s hero on his previous trip to PSG’s home, but that was far from the case on 9 April.
Indeed, in the view of talkSPORT pundit Dean Saunders, Villa would have been better off playing with a man less in the French capital.
| Stats | |
| Touches | 29 |
| Touches in the opposition box | 1 |
| Successful dribbles | 1/3 (33%) |
| Accurate passes | 17/23 (74%) |
Speaking live on air (9 April), Saunders said: “For me, [Unai Emery] might as well have not played Marcus Rashford; he might as well have taken him off and played with 10 men.
“He’s the first line of defence, right, the first man up front. I can’t go around the houses here – put more effort in. When PSG play it across the pitch, nibble at players’ legs, sprint.”
Saunders’ verdict is pretty damning, and while Villa fans would not go as far to suggest Emery would have been better off fielding 10 players, it seems Rashford was not the best choice to lead the line.
Emery has big decisions to make for second leg v PSG
A 2-1 deficit being brought back to Villa Park would have kept the tie wide open, but the damaging third from Mendes means Villa really do have their work cut out.
It means Emery‘s side have to score twice without response if they are to being eliminated in a week’s time, which is a huge ask against this PSG side.
Arguably the biggest choice for Emery to make next week is whether to start Rashford as the lone forward or change things up.
Ollie Watkins will be hugely disappointed not to have started the first leg but may now get his chance in the return leg.
If Rashford does start, he will need to do far more than we saw in the French capital on Wednesday.