MANCHESTER, England (AP) — In this kind of form Marcus Rashford might just fire Manchester United to the Premier League title and more.
The striker scored twice to set up a 3-0 win against Leicester on Sunday as Erik ten Hag's team closed in on second-place Manchester City and kept the pressure on table-topping Arsenal.
That’s 16 goals in 17 games for Rashford since returning from the World Cup in a run that has prompted fans to label him the best player in the world right now.
Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe – and a certain Cristiano Ronaldo – might have something to say about that, but United’s four-pronged trophy pursuit has been energized by Rashford’s outstanding form.
The England international fired his team in front on 25 minutes at Old Trafford after United withstood an early onslaught from Leicester.
He scored a second in the 56th and substitute Jadon Sancho added a third five minutes later.
Rashford has scored in seven straight Premier League games at home, which is the longest run for a United player since Wayne Rooney’s eight-game streak in the 2009-10 campaign.
Ronaldo had a sequence of 10 straight games in 2008.
But it is a measure of Rashford's form that he is keeping company with such iconic names. He has now has a career-best 24 goals this season and is showing no signs of slowing down, no matter what the opposition.
His latest strikes came after he scored in the 2-2 draw with Barcelona in the Europa League on Thursday to further enhance his reputation around the world.
And how United needed his intervention in the first half after Leicester twice came close to taking an early lead, only for David de Gea to keep out efforts from Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho.
United went on to dominate with Lisandro Martinez hitting the bar in the second half and Wout Weghorst forcing a save when one-on-one with Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward late on.
United is now three points behind City and six off leader Arsenal.
United will play Newcastle in the League Cup final next Sunday. It faces West Ham in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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