Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford produced another top performance, to help Aston Villa advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after they saw off off 10-man Club Brugge.
Villa were leading 3-1 from the first leg and they left nothing to chance, easing their way into the last eight with a 3-0 home victory courtesy of two goals from half-time substitute Marco Asensio and one from Ian Maatsen.
Rashford was impactful, setting up one of Asensio’s goals and drawing the first-half foul which saw Brugge defender Kyriani Sabbe given his marching orders.
The Carrington academy graduate was named in the starting XI and repaid the faith of Unai Emery in kind with a stellar display.
Rashford endured a slow start, but as the game progressed, he found his rhythm and lit up the second half with electrifying energy. He completed all 90 minutes.
Beyond his assist, the forward touched the ball 64 times and successfully found his teammates with 46 of the 48 passes he attempted (96% pass accuracy). Three of his passes were key passes.
He delivered some fantastic balls inside the box but none of his teammates managed to get on the end of any of them.
Rashford created one big chance and fired two shots – one was on target while the other didn’t test Brugge goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.
The United man completed one of the five dribbles he embarked on. He went in for seven ground duels and came out on top three times.
Rashford also made two clearances and put in half as many tackles.
(Stats obtained from Sofascore)
Villa face a formidable challenge in their next Champions League clash against high-flyers Paris Saint-Germain, who knocked Liverpool out of the competition on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, United are back in action on Thursday when they take on Real Sociedad in the return leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie.
Featured image Gareth Copley via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
