Marcus Rashford can take cue from Raheem Sterling’s development at City | Jonathan Liew

Manchester United striker has just turned 22 and, like Sterling before him, needs to add ugly goals to his repertoire

For a moment all is stillness. Marcus Rashford grinds to a halt. Old Trafford pauses with him. Rashford waits. There’s a wiggle of the toes. And then the explosion.

Rashford’s second goal against Tottenham on Wednesday night was, in many ways, a distillation of everything he does best. As Serge Aurier closed him down on the left flank, Rashford paused for an instant, waiting for his opponent to commit. A twitch of the boot was enough to convince Aurier that Rashford was planning to cut inside. And in that moment, with a conjuror’s cunning, Rashford was away: knocking the ball through Aurier’s legs, sprinting past him, burning around the outside of Moussa Sissoko – himself an exceptionally quick player – and eventually drawing the foul from which he would convert United’s winning penalty.

Related: Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic gives Marcus Rashford a tutorial | Nick Ames

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