Marcus Rashford: Aston Villa boss Unai Emery praises ‘fantastic’ forward

Rashford’s January move appears to have revived the England international’s career but, after a number of decent displays, this was arguably his best for Emery’s side.

The way he set up Villa’s third goal against PSG was a brilliant display of skill as he nutmegged one player to get into the box, sidestepped another before cutting the ball back perfectly for Ezri Konsa to fire home.

That assist was his fifth for the club – no Premier League player has managed more since his Villa debut.

Rashford memorably scored a last-minute penalty for Manchester United against PSG in 2019 to send them out of the Champions League, and he almost came back to haunt them once again as only a stunning Gianluigi Donnarumma stop denied him finding the top corner.

“Marcus Rashford didn’t score, but the energy levels that he had… he was making those defenders make mistakes,” former Villa and Manchester United striker Dion Dublin said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“For me, he was man of the match for Villa.”