Owen Hargreaves and Paul Scholes hail ‘fantastic’ Marcus Rashford after Manchester United survive Europa League scare

Owen Hargreaves and Paul Scholes singled out ‘fantastic’ Marcus Rashford for praise after Manchester United survived a scare in the Europa League against Omonia Nicosia.

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Premier League giants United were expected to blow away their Cypriot opponents but were 1-0 down at half-time after Karim Ansarifard’s shock opener.

Erik ten Hag brought on Rashford and Luke Shaw at the break and Anthony Martial shortly after half-time and the changes had an instant impact, with Rashford scoring an equaliser on 53 minutes.

Rashford turned from goalscorer to provider ten minutes later as Martial scored his third goal in two games to give United the lead.

England forward Rashford scored his second and United’s third late on and while Omonia went up the other end to pull one back, the visitors held their nerve to clinch a 3-2 win on an unexpectedly edgy night.

Both Hargreaves and Scholes thought Rashford changed the game after his half-time substitution, calling the Old Trafford academy graduate ‘fantastic’ and ‘really lively’.

Speaking on BT Sport, Hargreaves said: ‘There’s clearly things United need to work on but if you look at the stats they dominated really.

‘I thought Rashford looked fantastic when he came on. He looked sharp, he looked quick and explosive. He was by far the best player on the pitch when he came on.

‘Defensively, clearly United still have work to do but they created lots of chances and [Cristiano] Ronaldo should have had a couple really.’

Old Trafford legend Scholes added: ‘That’s what you want from your subs. They changed the game.

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