Wolverhampton (AFP)
International striker Marcus Rashford was left out of Manchester United’s starting line-up for ‘internal disciplinary’ reasons, then came on as a second-half substitute to score the winning goal at Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 on Saturday, in the 18th round of the English football league.
Rashford, 25, was handed a suspension penalty by his Dutch coach, Eric Ten Hag, who, as usual, indicated before the match that his striker would not start him for failing to comply with internal rules, without providing further details.
And in place of Rashford, who also authored the two previous matches with the “Red Devils”, and three goals with his national team at the World Cup in Qatar, the young Argentinian Alejandro Garnacho (18 years old) who scored the winning goal for his team in the last match before the World Cup against Fulham (2-1) on November 13th.
But Rashford replaced the hapless Garnacho between half-time and made the difference in the 76th minute after a volley from Portugal’s Bruno Fernandez, so he went out and scored his 11th goal of the season from inside the box in various competitions.
With their third successive league win and fifth in various competitions, United took their tally to 32 points from 16 games in fourth place, one point behind Newcastle United III, who will later receive Leeds United.
On the other hand, Wolverhampton remained in the relegation zone after Spanish manager Julen Lopetegui suffered his first defeat in three games since his arrival in place of the dismissed Portuguese Bruno Lagi.
Players observed a minute’s silence before the game in honor of Brazilian football legend Pele’s passing at the age of 82, and United’s Brazil international winger Anthony lifted his shirt to display a personal message to the former three times world champion.
