Louis van Gaal has challenged young forward Marcus Rashford to show
consistency in his Manchester United career following a breathtaking
first appearance in the 5-1 Europa League victory over Denmark's FC
Midtjylland.
Rashford was only called into the starting line-up for his debut when
Anthony Martial injured his hamstring in the pre-match warm-up -- the
second successive week United have lost a player in such circumstances
after goalkeeper David de Gea pulled out of the first leg.
But the 18-year-old scored two well-taken goals as United won 5-1 on
the night, 6-3 on aggregate, to ease through to the last 16 of the
competition.
"I've said already a lot of times, that's fantastic for him, but you have to be consistent," said the United manager.
"We are looking for consistent strikers and there are not so many on this earth, but he gave a brilliant performance.
"I didn't have another option so it was easy. He was there on the bench because he was the natural sub for Martial.
"I put (Joe) Riley in there because he is playing left-back in the
second team and I have seen him play well, he has been the best player
on the pitch, that's what I'm looking at these matches.
"I'm always confident in these players but the first match, they
always play well. It is the second or the third match that mostly gives
problems. That's why it's a fantastic step for them in their learning
process, their development process."
Young full-back Riley was also impressive in the game and van Gaal's
mood was helped by the news that Martial's injury does not appear to be
too serious.
