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The year 2016 will no doubt be indelible in the annals of Marcus Rashford when it finally hit the stands.
It not only marks the beginning of a bright and prosperous career or the youngster.
It also signals the presence of an unusual gut and marksmanship among the younger generation.
So begins the story of Manchester United’s striker Marcus Rashford.
The young man continued his incredible year on Saturday, coming on as a second-half substitute to score a 93rd-minute winner in the Reds’ 1-0 victory at Hull City.
Rashford broke into the first team in February with two debut strikes against Midtjylland in the Europa League.
Ever since, Rashford’s lively performances have helped him to become a big hit with United fans.
And his last-gasp goal at the KCOM Stadium has only enhanced his reputation further.
After scoring eight times in 18 appearances last season, Rashford may have felt unfortunate to have been kept out of the starting line-up so far.
But he will have done his cause no harm by making a decisive impact on Saturday’s game.
Coming on in the 71st minute, Rashford provided an injection of energy from the second he crossed the white line.
Desperate to make a contribution and help United break the deadlock, the Englishman used his fresh legs to full effect, stretching an already overworked Hull defence.
The young substitute could have found the net earlier than stoppage time.
He ended a dangerous run with a shot that would have nestled in the bottom right-hand corner.
But Hull goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic not got down quickly to turn it away.
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Then in the dying embers of the match, he timed his run perfectly to latch onto the end of a low driven cross from captain, Wayne Rooney.
He secured all three points for the Reds just two minutes from time.
The goal caused the whole United bench to jump to their feet in delight, as Rashford headed towards the away fans in celebration.
Speaking to MUTV afterwards, the match winner heralded the result as a real team performance:
“It’s amazing to score in the last minute like that but the team grafted for 94 or 95 minutes so we deserved it.
“Every last-minute winner, no matter who it is against, who the opponents are, what stage of the game it’s at, what stage of the season it’s in, is an important goal.
“So I was very happy.
“I had seen the situation develop with Rooney’s amazing run so I had to get myself in the box so all the team’s hard work paid off.”
United manager Jose Mourinho was full of praise for the young striker, telling BT Sport in a post-match interview:
“Marcus is working extremely well and both times when the team was in trouble and needed one goal, in the Community Shield with the score at 1-1.
“Today when the score was 0-0, he came on and gave a special contribution.”
Mourinho added in his post-match press conference: “Marcus gave us diversity in our football.
“[This is] because he’s different to Rooney, he’s different to Zlatan. I’m really happy with him.”
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