Rashford heaps praise on Pogba after win at Leicester

Marcus Rashford heaped praise on Paul Pogba’s abilities as a playmaker after the duo combined to give Manchester United a 1-0 win at Leicester City.

England striker Rashford marked his 100th Premier League appearance with the only goal of the game at the King Power Stadium, collecting Pogba’s clever lobbed throughball before drilling past Kasper Schmeichel.

The 2018 World Cup winner has now managed six goals and five assists in United’s eight league matches under caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, having thrived in more of a free role since the departure of Jose Mourinho.

And Rashford has come to expect such form when Pogba is given licence to get forward.

No Frenchman has more @premierleague goals (9) or assists (8) than @ManUtd ‘s @paulpogba this season

Keeping that Russia form rolling …  pic.twitter.com/ngyeP3xgzy

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) February 3, 2019

“Time and time again, he provides opportunities for the team and that’s what we want from him,” Rashford told Sky Sports. “If we can get him free as much as we can, he’ll make these passes all day long. He’ll find you.”

United battled back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at home to Burnley last time out and showed similar resilience to keep Leicester at bay when under pressure in the second half on Sunday.

“We’re looking at blocks of work and we keep trying to improve ourselves,” Rashford said of their efforts. “The last result wasn’t what we wanted. We had to improve.

“[It was] a different type of game, it had different challenges but very difficult so to get the win is very good.”

Rashford has largely thrived under Solskjaer as a central striker, having mostly been used out wide by Mourinho, but he insists it is important to be capable of playing across the front.

“I don’t think anyone grows up wanting to be just a striker nowadays,” he said. “The game’s changed. You want to be an all-round forward, you want to be able to play on the left, on the right, as a 10, wherever the team needs you. What’s happened in my career so far has enabled me to do that.”