Man Utd hammer Chelsea with Rashford double

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:21 am

Marcus Rashford scored two goals with Anthony Martial and Daniel James also on the scoresheet to earn Manchester United an emphatic 4-0 victory over Chelsea in their opening match of the Premier League.

United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer handed debuts to new boys Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire with James left on the bench while his opposite number Frank Lampard opted to start without United States international Christian Pulisic, but did name youngster Mason Mount in his line up.

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The visitors were the better team in the early exchanges and will argue the opening goal came against the run of play.

Referee Anthony Taylor played advantage following a foul by Jorginho and in the next phase of play Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma was adjudged to have fouled Rashford in the box. Following a short consultation with the video assistant referee, Taylor pointed to the spot and Rashford made no mistake.

The goal galvanised United who improved after taking the lead, but it was Chelsea who came closest to scoring when left-back Emerson Palmieri rattled David De Gea's crossbar.

Lampard introduced Pulisic for his Premier League debut on 58 minutes and he showed some bright touches, winning a free kick with his first involvement.

However, as they pushed forward in search of an equaliser, Chelsea were caught on the counter-attack and were 2-0 down on 65 minutes.

Maguire won the ball on the edge of the United box before playing in Rashford. The England forward passed it to Jesse Lingard. He teed up Andreas Pereira, who swung in a tantalising cross, which was finished off by Martial.

And just two minutes later, it was 3-0 when Pogba won the ball in midfield and played in Rashford, who beat the offside trap to slot the ball past goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Solskjaer introduced James, who got in on the act with a debut goal on 82 minutes to make it 4-0 when played in by Pogba after another United counter.

The result represents a dream start to the campaign for Solskjaer but, for Lampard, there will have been some serious concerns as to how much his side struggled to deal with United's counter-attacks.