Rio Ferdinand hailed Marcus Rashford’s performance after Manchester United’s 2-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain but said the forward needs to add a ‘poacher’s element’ and an ‘ugly side’ to his game to be considered world-class.
The Champions League group-stage clash looked to be heading for a draw after Anthony Martial’s own-goal cancelled out Bruno Fernandes’ first-half penalty but Rashford sealed all three points for the visitors with a sublime 87th-minute strike.
The goal brought back memories of United’s 3-1 win over PSG back in March 2019 when Rashford held his nerve to convert a last-gasp spot-kick in Paris which secured the Red Devils a place in the quarter-finals.
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Reacting to Rashford’s display last night, United legend Ferdinand told BT Sport: ‘He can definitely be world-class if he keeps improving.
‘He needs to add that poacher’s element to his game.
‘When Wayne Rooney signed for United he scored outrageous goals, he didn’t score ugly goals. He became obsessed with scoring.
‘Marcus scores fantastic goals and creates fantastic goals – if he can create that ugly side to the game then this kid can be unbelievable.’
The former United centre-back added: ‘The difference between Rashford and [Kylian] Mbappe is when Mbappe gets the ball I’m on the edge of my seat because he shapes up to go for goal.
‘Marcus will have a look up and think about it a bit more.’
Though Rashford was delighted to come away from the Parc des Princes with all three points, he felt there was plenty of room for improvement in United’s performance given they fluffed a host of chances prior to his late winner.
‘I thought we did well today in stages,’ the England attacker told MUTV.
‘Some of the decision-making in the first half and even in the second half was poor in the final third – that’s one thing we can work on and improve on.
‘The manager got it spot on today.
‘I think it’s a big win but we’ve got a lot to build on and improve on as well.’
