Marcus Rashford sends perfect message after Man United goal against Southampton
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford got a morale-boosting goal against Southampton on Saturday to score for the first time since March.
Andre Onana's first-half penalty save proved to be the turning point for United at St Mary's with Matthijs de Ligt scoring moments later. Rashford's long-awaited goal soon followed to give Erik ten Hag's team a comfortable lead heading into half-time.
And the Reds were able to control much of the second half before Alejandro Garnacho made it 3-0 late on. The result ends a two-match losing streak for Ten Hag's side who were well beaten by Liverpool at Old Trafford before the international break.
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Expressing his delight in United's victory, Rashford reacted on social media. The 26-year-old referenced young fan Grayson after promising to dedicate his next goal to the 10-year-old following a heartwarming message to the United star.
"Three points. First goal of the season. Smiles for me and Grayson," he said on Instagram alongside a picture of him celebrating his goal against the Saints.
Joshua Zirkzee commented on the post: "Told youuuu," while former United forward Jesse Lingard said: "Love it you," followed by a red love heart emoji.
When asked about Rashford's performance on Saturday, Ten Hag said: "It’s very important, we don’t pay attention to what the outside world is saying but there was too much negativity to him.
"He created two great chances in that game [the defeat to Liverpool], in other games this season he has played very well. He deserved that goal but you had to work for it. That is what he is doing and then you get a reward. He scored a great goal.
"He scored already so many goals for Manchester United. At his age the number of goals is amazing and I’m sure he will score many more goals," he said.
"To get into a season for any striker is so important, to be on the scoring list and then you build momentum and belief and then it will come into more goals."