London (AFP) – Three successive away wins have done wonders for Manchester United’s confidence following a difficult patch, according to striker Marcus Rashford.
Rashford celebrated his 22nd birthday a day early in some style on Wednesday scoring both United’s goals as they beat Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge to progress to the League Cup quarter-finals.
His second goal, a swerving 30-yard free-kick, was labelled by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as “Cristiano (Ronaldo)-like” though Rashford preferred to see it as an important boost to team morale following away wins at Partizan Belgrade and their first in the Premier League in eight months last Sunday at Norwich.
Solskjaer had been under pressure after United made their worst start to a league season in 33 years, but Rashford hopes the team have now turned the corner since becoming the first side to take points off leaders Liverpool a fortnight ago with a 1-1 draw.
“If you get a couple of wins back-to-back early on in the season it can change the direction the season is going,” Rashford told Sky Sports.
“Because mentally, for a team like Man United, when you’re winning back-to-back games, the team’s confidence levels go up.
“So, if we can keep doing this and keep it up in the league, we take it game by game and go back up the table.”
United’s next challenge is a fourth successive away trip, this time in the Premier League to Bournemouth, who are level on points with them, on Saturday.
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