Marcus Rashford hands Ruben Amorim the perfect start to life as Manchester United manager as striker scores after just 81 SECONDS in Ipswich clash – in defiant response to critics of his trip to New York

Manchester United fans were full of excitement for Ruben Amorim‘s first game in charge and Marcus Rashford made it a perfect start for the new Red Devils boss when he opened the scoring in the second minute against Ipswich.

Amorim opted to start with Rashford up front and the decision quickly paid off, the Englishman responding perfectly to the criticism he faced for taking a trip to the United States during the international break.

Rashford, who once again was not selected by Lee Carsley for England’s final Nations League matches last week, enjoyed his Three Lions exile by travelling stateside to watch an NBA game between New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets at Madison Square Garden last Friday.

He faced backlash for a lack of professionalism from the likes of Gary Neville but was defended by his new manager.

And his opening goal came after some great work from Amad Diallo, who drove down the right wing and put the ball across goal.

Rashford was the quickest to it, turning the ball past Arijanet Muric at the near post to draw a roar from the away fans.

And the travelling United fans then erupted into chants of their new manager’s name. 

Amorim was confirmed as the man to succeed Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford back on November 1 but he did not start his new job until November 11 as he served a notice period at former club Sporting Lisbon.

The 39-year-old is widely regarded as one of Europe’s top coaches and only took charge of his first training session on Monday.

Speaking ahead of the game, he said: ‘I have tried to use all the training [sessions] that we had during this week. 

‘So we had, for example, more time to train with Casemiro – we had [Manuel] Ugarte one day to train. We try to use the players that I have passed more information to. I think that is a key point.

‘It’s not difficult and that is the key point with the time that we had to train. I tried to put the players that I have more time to train and we’ll start in this way. Some of the lads just have one training. 

‘One is not enough. I want my players comfortable. There will be time for everybody during this sequence of games.

The Englishman turned the ball home at the near post early on to break the deadlock

‘I’m a different person in game day. That is the reality. I’m a little bit anxious as when you’re a coach and you don’t know the league very well, you don’t know what to expect. 

‘It’s a new life. Let’s start with the small details. I want my players to win the game and they are capable of doing that.