The Wythenshawe-born forward has more experience of this local affair than any of his team-mates. After a dream start to his senior career, it was his winner at the Etihad Stadium in 2016 that arguably announced he was here to stay at the top level.
Of course, last season, his goal that completed a remarkable turnaround, when he converted an Alejandro Garnacho cross to defeat the Blues, amid raucous scenes, in January.
That victory should provide some confidence going into the game against the champions but Rashford, keen to emphasise how important the home crowd will be from the first whistle, sees similarities with the approach to a match against our other biggest rivals, Liverpool, in early 2022/23.
ERE'S SOMETHING IN THE AIR ON DERBY DAY
In an exclusive interview with United Review, the official matchday programme containing a poignant picture of the late Sir Bobby Charlton on the cover, our no.10 hopes this contest can be the one to really kickstart our campaign, as was the case when upsetting Liverpool on the back of consecutive defeats to Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford, in Erik ten Hag's opening fixtures.
This time around, United have been winning matches of late but, Rashford concedes that we have not been in top form.
"It’s just the way football is sometimes," he explained. "I don’t think we’ve been playing at our best but we’ve just won three games.
"I remember last season, before we played Liverpool at home early in the season, we weren’t at our best before then but we responded in a big game. We’ll be looking for that type of performance again. If we can get that and get the win, then we’ll be happy.
"I can see the similarities [to the Liverpool match]. We have the courage and the willingness to fight in every game we play, and we need to pick up the points. We need to move up the Premier League table, there’s no time to wait around."
Rashford scored the eventual winner in that victory over Jurgen Klopp's side, adding to Jadon Sancho's opener before Mohamed Salah pulled one back with nine minutes remaining. That triumph, Erik's first in charge of the club, set the tone for the term and proved United could beat anybody when playing to our full capabilities.
It is acknowledged that the team, and fans, will need to be in top form this weekend, if Pep Guardiola's side are to be overcome again, and Marcus has wondered if the supporters realise just how integral they are to helping pull off a sweet success.
No comments:
Post a Comment