Erik ten Hag makes Marcus Rashford admission after Leeds winner

Erik ten Hag has revealed his belief that Marcus Rashford is now one of Europe’s best forwards after he struck the winner in Manchester United’s win over rivals Leeds United.

The England international broke the deadlock at Elland Road on Sunday, heading home his 21st goal of the season thus far in the 2-0 win. The goal means that Rashford is now just one goal shy of his career best season tally of 22.

Following yet another game-winning performance, Rashford shared an embrace with manager Ten Hag on the pitch, with the Dutchman telling Sky Sports that he’d told the 25-year-old ‘what a strike’ in relation to his goal.

The former Ajax boss then admitted that Rashford is now operating like the very best in the business.

“He’s definitely one of them,” Ten Hag said. “He has the skills. I was convinced from the first moment, I was really excited to work with him, I thought I could get more out of him.

“But he has so many skills and such high potential and there can be even more. When he works well he will score even more goals because he can score with his left, right and his head.

“It’s about him getting into position but also the team has to have the capabilities to pass in there and cross in there, as they did today. I think that is what I wanted to describe.”

“It’s what he’s aiming for in every game,” he added when speaking specifically about Rashford’s goal. “I told him at the start of the season: ‘every game you will be in a position to score, and you have the capabilities to score so it’s about keeping that focus over 90-95 minutes’. If he does that you can see that he can score with left [foot], right [foot], and with his head.