Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford are quick off the starting blocks in FA Cup tie at Ewood Park
The sight of Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford lining up surely thrilled the Manchester United purist. This fifth-round tie was the first time José Mourinho fielded a quartet that could claim to be English football’s fleetest. Factor in the rawness of Martial, Rashford and Lingard, plus Mkhitaryan’s street-wise football brain, and this was a cocktail to quicken pulses by offering a glimpse of United’s future.
Lingard threw down a first marker by motoring along the right, leaving Craig Conway a spectator, and finding Mkhitarayan who in turn fed Rashford. He and Lingard were in the XI as Mourinho rested Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juan Mata. This is the embarrassment of attacking riches Mourinho possesses – he could leave his leading scorer and a world and European champion on the bench and replace them with last season’s FA Cup final matchwinner (Lingard) and the most exciting teenage English prospect in a generation (Rashford).
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