Erik ten Hag hails Marcus Rashford after beating Cristiano Ronaldo record
By Tom Gott
Erik ten Hag has heaped praise on Marcus Rashford after he surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo's European goalscoring tally for Manchester United.
The in-form Rashford bagged a screamer on Thursday to secure a 1-0 win over Real Betis and steer United in to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, with the strike moving him up to 25 goals in European competitions.
Rashford now sits sixth in United's continental scoring charts, climbing ahead of Ronaldo in the process.
"[His form] tells you something about the team's performance. It tells you something about him," Ten Hag said of Rashford after the game.
"If he keeps the focus, and makes sure he has the energy, the way, and the way he has to play in that system and style, he will get in scoring positions and then it's about him, he has the ability to finish."
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Rashford missed a great chance to open the scoring just moments before he found the back of the net, and Ten Hag praised the United man's mentality for keeping focused and eventually getting his reward.
"The team was creating some chances," Ten Hag said. "Rashy had some chances before and he missed some but he kept his belief, he kept trying, and got his reward.
"All good strikers know that not every chance you will get a goal but at this level, you don't create five or six chances in a game so one of the two has to be in."
United now await the result of Friday's draw with the Europa League quarter-finals.
Juventus, Feyenoord, Sevilla, Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, Union Saint-Gilloise and Sporting CP are all potential opponents for Ten Hag's side.
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