Emery has welcome Rashford dilemma as Neville raves over ‘Exceptional’ moment
Marcus Rashford featured heavily in the highlights reel as Aston Villa were narrowly defeated by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Unai Emery’s side fell to a 2-1 defeat after a late Matheus Nunes goal, meaning the Villains sit seventh in the Premier League table and two points adrift of Newcastle United in fifth.
Although Villa will be disappointed with the result, the performance of Rashford has presented Emery with a welcome dilemma.
Rashford catches the eye during Villa defeat
After conceding the lead to a Bernardo Silva goal, the West Midlands side were awarded a controversial penalty, which Rashford unduly dispatched.
However, it was not his goal that garnered attention and praise from Gary Neville but what happened immediately after kick-off.
The 27-year-old latched on to a neat throughball from Youri Tielemans with an incisive run and struck the post.
Neville, who was speaking live on Sky Sports (22 April), said: “They play it really well through a tightly packed midfield. The touches from Marcus Rashford are exceptional.”
The striker continued to be involved throughout the game and finished the encounter with a passing accuracy of 86 per cent, as per Sofascore.
Rashford’s running in behind caused problems for City but he could not add to his penalty, missing two big chances on the night.
Neville continued: “The run again from Marcus Rashford is blistering. He had to try for goal. Rashford could have had three or four on another night. He’s been a real threat.”
The England international finished the match with 20 touches and an xG of 1.49, which suggests Neville’s words were spot on.
| Marcus Rashford’s statistics against Manchester City | Total |
| Minutes played | 76 |
| Goals | 1 |
| Expected goals (xG) | 1.49 |
| Big chances missed | 2 |
| Touches | 20 |
| Accurate passes | 6/7 (86%) |
Emery has striker conundrum on his hands
After Rashford’s display against the Premier League champions, Emery now has a decision to make ahead of a crucial run-in.
Villa are still in the mix to achieve a top-five finish, which would secure them a successive season in the Champions League, while they face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-finals on Saturday.
The Spaniard now must decide whether to start Ollie Watkins or Rashford in those games, or indeed play them together.
After being left out of the English side’s Champions League second leg win over PSG, Watkins admitted that he was fuming at his manager’s decision.
The former Brentford man then channelled his anger by producing an outstanding performance against Newcastle, scoring and assisting in the 4-1 victory.
Watkins now has 16 goals and 13 assists in all competitions, meaning he is the club’s top scorer this campaign.
As for Rashford, he has four goals and six assists for the Villains since joining on loan from Man United in January.
There is not much to separate the two when it comes to shot accuracy, with Watkins’ 19 per cent edging Rashford’s 17 per cent.
Despite the loss to Pep Guardiola’s side, Villa have it all to play for, and Emery will be optimistic that Watkins and Rashford can have a starring role.