Marcus Rashford moves above Paul Scholes in Manchester United’s all-time European goalscorer list | OneFootball

Marcus Rashford overtook Manchester United legend Paul Scholes in United’s all-time list of goalscorers in major European competitions.

The Englishman has had a challenging year after sparkling in the 2022/2023 season, where he scored 30 goals in all competitions.

Last season was a major disappointment as he only found the net eight times. Whilst hardly being spectacular, this season appears to be going better. His strike against FC Porto was his fourth of the campaign, as he looks well on track to beat last season’s total.

He also provided a clever assist for Rasmus Hojlund for United’s second strike and truth be told, if it weren’t for the wastefulness of his teammates, he would have quite a few more assists to his name than the two he currently has.

The 26 year old shone brightly last night though as he tore through the Portuguese side’s defence at will but was peculiarly subbed off at half-time in Erik ten Hag’s latest strange tactical decision.

His goal last night was not just significant for his team but also for his place in United’s all-time standings as it was his 26th in major European competitions, moving him on one clear of the legendary Paul Scholes.

He is also only nine goals behind Wayne Rooney who has 35 goals in all European competitions.

He still has some way to go though to catch current United coach, Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored 38 times for the club in European competition.

He also moves on to 14 goals in the Europa League, which means he is only seven behind Alan Shearer as the English player with the most strikes in this competition.

The cynically-minded would say that most of his goals have come in the weaker European competition where in comparison, players like Scholes and Van Nistelrooy scored all their goals in the premier competition of the Champions League.

While this is certainly a factor to be taken into consideration, it is also true that the 26 year old has also played in significantly worse teams than either of those players did, so has scored goals perhaps more against the odds.

With the new format of more games to be played and the reality that United will spend more time in the Europa League due to the fierce competition for places in the Champions League in England, at only 26, Rashford stands a great chance of beating both Van Nistelrooy’s and Shearer’s respective records.

Despite the poor form of the team at the moment, United fans will still dream of winning this year’s Europa League and if they are to get close to doing that, it feels like Rashford will have to play a significant role.

Featured image Octavio Passos via Getty Images

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