Marcus Rashford said he was “just enjoying my football” after scoring twice in a 3-0 win against Preston to secure for Aston Villa an FA Cup semi‑final against Crystal Palace.
Jacob Ramsey added to Rashford’s first goals since 1 December. The England striker had not scored in nine appearances since joining Villa on loan in the winter transfer window. His final game for United came on 12 December and Ruben Amorim later announced he would rather put the 63-year-old goalkeeping coach, Jorge Vital, on the bench than Rashford.
“I think I can get fitter, I missed a lot of football before joining up with them, my body feels good, injury free and just enjoying my football for now,” Rashford told BBC Sport. “It’s a great feeling, I feel like I’ve been slowly getting better and playing better football since I’ve been here.”
Villa have a Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint‑Germain to look forward to before they face Palace at Wembley in late April, the sort of occasions Rashford was brought to Villa Park to influence. “It’s nice for a forward to always get goals, so hopefully it continues,” he said.
“I think we have to take it one game at a time, give 100% on the pitch and see where it takes us. We’re a very ambitious team, we want to try and get as far as we can in all competitions and push to get back into the top four.”
The 27-year-old helped his parent club to win the FA Cup last season but has struggled for form over a lengthy period. Rashford has shown steady improvement under Unai Emery and earned an England recall from Thomas Tuchel in the international break after a year without a cap.
Emery said of his loan star: “Firstly, his commitment to work, to adapt quickly is very important and he’s doing it. And then, to feel comfortable playing in his best level, [he needs to] work, still training weeks to get it. But today he did one step forward, feeling comfortable, getting confident, scoring goals and he was probably getting better … one step forward more in his adaptation and helping us.”
after newsletter promotion
Emery, however, said “we can’t waste time speaking” about signing Rashford on a permanent deal in the summer. “He was coming here in the last two months not training consistently and he was not feeling his best in the first matches he played with us. And today, after progressively playing more and with the national team where he played two matches, I think it helped him to feel better.”