Daniel Sturridge hails Marcus Rashford’s resurgence at Aston Villa: ‘He’s proven everyone wrong’ | OneFootball

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Daniel Sturridge says Marcus Rashford has “proven everyone wrong” after a standout performance against Paris Saint-Germain exemplified his remarkable career resurgence since joining Aston Villa on loan.

Rashford was a constant threat for the Villains as they came from two goals down to beat PSG 3-2 in their Champions League quarter-final second leg.

The Manchester United loanee, who signed for Unai Emery’s side temporarily in January, was at the heart of Villa’s third, dancing into the box before putting it on a plate for Ezri Konsa to tuck home.

Though the result wasn’t enough to progress to the last four, being edged out 5-4 on aggregate by the French giants, Villa could only leave the pitch with their head held high, having given Luis Enrique’s side a mighty scare in a riotous second-half display.

And while focus has been on the heart and desire of the entire Villa team, Sturridge was keen to sign Rashford’s praises after proving that he is still very much able to do damage against Europe’s biggest hitters - just months after being written off by many.

"The narrative before he came here was that he’s not the same player any more,” Sturridge told Amazon Prime. “That was the narrative. He’s proven everyone wrong."

“We have to give him credit. There was a big narrative out there that Marcus Rashford is not the same player, and Ruben Amorim was correct about everything. But Marcus Rashford has come here and shown everybody this is who I am, and this is how I play. This is what I can bring to the table.

"As a football player, sometimes when a manager doesn’t fancy you, it’s up to you to show them: ‘I am good enough’. This is what I can do. Sometimes you are not going to get the love from the manager, and you have to go on loan or fight for my spot.

“[Marcus] has chosen to come here and it has worked out for him. Sometimes you make these decisions and it goes the other way. I’m really proud of him that he’s come here and shown everybody what it is all about.”

Marcus Rashford brilliantly set up Ezri Konsa’s strike that put Aston Villa ahead on the night (Getty Images)

It wasn’t the first time Rashford gave PSG serious trouble in the Champions League, having inspired a famous comeback while at Man United in 2019 - where he netted a 94th-minute penalty to send the Parisians crashing out on their own turf.

He very nearly provided PSG fans with another bad memory as he threatened to draw parity in the tie at Villa Park, bending an effort bound for the top corner that forced a superb save by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

However, his efforts proved in vain as PSG held off the comeback to progress, with two first-half goals from marauding full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes proving pivotal.