‘Emery to rip into Marcus Rashford’ after Aston Villa display v Southampton
Unai Emery is unlikely to be impressed with Marcus Rashford despite Aston Villa securing a huge win against Southampton on Saturday.
The Villans travelled to the south coast on 12 April and eventually were able to take three points thanks to three second-half goals.
Ollie Watkins, John McGinn and Donyell Malen all made the difference from the bench in a 3-0 victory to send Villa fifth in the Premier League.
Although the impact of the substitutes will please Emery, the performance of Rashford from the start is bound to leave him frustrated at St Mary’s.
Emery to be raging with Rashford v Soutampton
There is no doubt that the Manchester United loanee has had some standout moments since parting ways with Ruben Amorim in the winter.
His goals against Preston sent the Villans to Wembley and will live long in the memory of the Villa Park faithful.
That doesn’t distract from his lack of impact against the Saints, despite the B6 club having all of the ball and the chances throughout the clash at St Mary’s.
| Stat | Southampton | Aston Villa |
| Possession (%) | 40 | 60 |
| Shots | 7 | 25 |
| Big chances | 1 | 6 |
| Accurate passes | 307 | 497 |
This came despite him having four shots on goal, but Emery is likely to be fuming with the distance of at least two of those, one of which was blocked [FotMob].
The Spaniard doesn’t take well to long-range efforts, and the 27-year-old only gave further credit as to why that is the case with a 25 per cent shot accuracy.
This wasn’t helped by the rest of his performance as the England international also completed just one dribble while only 33 per cent of his crosses found their target.
Defensively, there was also a lack of influence as Rashford also contributed with just one defensive action and also lost three duels, which isn’t good enough.
That may see Emery look to make a change moving forward, especially with a clash against PSG coming up in the Champions League.
Emery has Rashford decision to make at Aston Villa
There is no doubt that the Englishman has superb quality which could see him make a telling impact for Villa when given the opportunity.
With that being said, he failed to do so against the side glued to the bottom of the Premier League, which doesn’t necessarily paint a good picture.
Emery will want more from Rashford as he would have expected better from the likes of Morgan Rogers and Marco Asensio against the Saints.