Marcus Rashford’s first moment back in a Manchester United team for 20 months saw him commit a foul, but the intent with which he tried to win possession felt telling on the day when he made his unexpected comeback for his boyhood club
Rashford was introduced for the final half an hour of United’s pre-season friendly with AC Milan in Wroclaw. When Rashford came on, at the same time as five of his United teammates, Ruben Amorim was sat in the dugout for pretty much the only time of the afternoon.
The irony of Rashford returning against Amorim’s new side was heavy, given it was the Portuguese who froze the academy graduate out and appeared to have ended his Old Trafford career. Now Michael Carrick is trying to build bridges and both sides are talking a good game.
The decision to hand Rashford the No.9 shirt here felt telling. It’s a significant number reserved for significant players. While United wanted to make clear it was only a provisional number, it would feel strange to now change it this week. Rashford’s status as a United player might be more provisional with just over two weeks of the window to go.
He certainly sharpened up after that early foul. His direct running from the left caused Milan’s defenders a problem and he found the space between wing-back Samuel Chukwueze, who was excellent going forward but could be exposed defensively.
At one point, Rashford used his shoulder to force Mario Gila over the ball and then linked up well with Luke Shaw, a left-sided partnership that was once so successful. This cameo certainly offered enough evidence that if he remains at the club he will have a role to play.
He replaced the lively Patrick Dorgu but offered something different and that running did unsettle Milan. You wondered what Amorim made of it as he paced his technical area, regularly taking up that crouched position we saw so often at Old Trafford.
The Amorim soap opera had begun well before the game kicked off in temperatures in the mid-30s in Wroclaw. The end for him at United came swiftly and after a bust-up with Jason Wilcox, but the two men were seen chatting in the tunnel before kick-off and the conversation seemed amicable.
The presence of the Amazon cameras also added a different dynamic. They were embedded with the United squad and would have been picking up insider footage, with United keen to avoid any flashpoints or awkward moments on camera.
Amorim actually entered this game under a bit of pressure already. His familiar use of the word “suffering” had put Milan supporters on edge and his three pre-season friendlies had been disappointing, including a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea last week.
So he will have taken great delight in this 4-2 victory. It felt strange to see United struggle to contain Milan in Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 shape, when so many of the players had played it under him.
It had started well, too. When Harry Maguire headed in a Bruno Fernandes corner inside two minutes, it looked like it was going to be a chastening day for Amorim. Fernandes hadn’t taken any corners at Croke Park on Wednesday, but he was back on set-pieces here and made a quick impact.
It may be too soon to take him off penalties, but two misses in four days this week isn’t a great start to the season. After rolling a penalty wide in the shootout against Leeds, he saw his first-half effort saved by Lorenzo Torriani in Poland.
By that point, Milan had equalised for the first time. Harry Maguire and Andrey Santos fell into each other and both ended up on the floor. Goncalo Ramos used the space to square for Chukwueze to score.
Both teams were making sloppy errors in possession and eventually that caught up with Milan. Filippo Terracciano’s pass was perfect for Dorgu and found him in space in front of goal. Unfortunately for Terracciano, they were on opposite teams and Dorgu couldn’t pass up this gift, scoring from close range.
United again failed to hold an advantage, with Chukwueze’s shot going wide until Alphadjo Cisse turned in at the back post. Chukwueze then got his second assist when his delicate cross was headed in by Ramos. The irony of a wing-back having such a big impact on the game wouldn’t have been lost on United.
By now, Rashford was on, as were Lisandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo, and the game quickly got away from United. Again Milan’s system pulled United players out of position and Ruben Loftus-Cheek raced clear to add a fourth goal.
It wasn’t the end to pre-season that Carrick or United wanted. But this could be just the start if Rashford remains at United.
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