An inspired Marcus Rashford celebrated his return to English soil by scoring twice in nine second-half minutes to give Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United in their Champions League season opener at St James’ Park on Thursday.
Missing key players Lamine Yamal, Alejandro Balde, and Gavi through injury, the visitors had to weather an early storm as Newcastle pressed high relentlessly, with goalkeeper Joan Garcia making a fabulous reflex save to deny Harvey Barnes from close-range early in the game.
The five-time European champions gradually gained control of proceedings until English forward Rashford broke the deadlock in the 58th minute, scoring his first goal for Barcelona with an angled header from Jules Kounde’s right-wing cross that nestled just inside the left post beyond Nick Pope’s reach.
Rashford’s inspirational night continued nine minutes later when he pounced on a rebound at the edge of the box, set himself up with a quick glide to the right, and unleashed an unstoppable strike that flew past Pope before licking the crossbar into the top left corner.
Anthony Gordon reduced the deficit in the 90th minute, tapping-in a low cross from Jacob Murphy in a quick counter, but it was too little too late for Newcastle.
Following a great performance during Sunday’s 6-0 LaLiga win over Valencia, Rashford’s stunning double suggests he is finally recovering his old form after falling out of favour at Manchester United.
His back-to-back performances suggest that coach Hansi Flick’s personal bet on Rashford is paying off.
The German tactician made signing the English forward a priority during the close season and backed him to fill Yamal’s boots in their Champions League season debut.
“I’m not surprised,” Flick told Movistar Plus.
“I see what he is capable of every day in training and he is such a talented player. He scored two remarkable goals today. A goal is a goal, I need to watch both goals again, but the second one was probably better. The important thing is that he’s gaining confidence and that we help him to keep it going.”
The English forward has now scored seven goals against Newcastle during his career, with only Leicester City (eight goals) ahead of Newcastle in his personal scoring charts.
Scoring his first two goals for Barcelona on Thursday made his return to St James’ Park a particularly sweet.
“I’m learning a new way of playing football in Barcelona and that’s making me a better player,” Rashford told TNT Sports.
“It’s an incredible experience to play for Barcelona and we want to win as much as possible. It’s exciting to play with these lads.
“It’s difficult to be a starter because we have a team with top players. I’m arriving in a new city, a new culture… I’m feeling more comfortable every day. I’m enjoying it. As the season progresses, I think I’ll play better.”
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, who opted to deploy Gordon and bench new 69 million pound striker Nick Woltemade, saw his side struggle to break down Barcelona’s disciplined defence and succumbed to Rashford’s skills in the second half.
“Disappointing. We were really in the game. I never felt we were out of it,” Howe told TNT.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t score the first goal. That was crucial. We had the chances to do it. It was a whole-hearted gutsy display but maybe lacking the quality to get us the win.”
(Reuters)
