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Manchester United star Marcus Rashford endured a lukewarm night in his first game for England in 12 months, as they beat Albania 2-0.
Rashford was called up by Thomas Tuchel last week as he announced his first squad as England boss.
In an even bigger vote of confidence, Tuchel named Rashford – who has enjoyed a resurgence at Aston Villa following his loan move in January – in his first ever Three Lions starting XI.
Rashford started on the left of a front three including Phil Foden and Harry Kane.
England cruised to a 2-0 victory at Wembley, courtesy of goals from debutant Miles Lewis Skelly and national team captain Kane.
Rashford was on the pitch for 74 minutes and was involved in a lot of general play but didn’t really do much in terms of troubling Albania’s defence. He was just steady before being replaced by Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon.
Rashford touched the ball 55 times and managed to find his England teammates with 35 of the 41 passes he attempted (85% pass accuracy). One of his passes was a key pass and he also created one big chance.
The 27-year-old tried to connect with one cross and two long balls. He found his intended target with just one long ball.
He failed to fire a shot.
The Carrington academy graduate successfully completed three of the five dribbles he embarked on. Defensively, he won four of the eight duels he delved into. He did not contest any challenges in the air but made three fouls.
Rashford lost the ball 13 times, was dribbled past on one occasion and put in one tackle.
(Stats obtained from Sofascore)
Rashford was by no means terrible or poor, but he lacked the usual threat he poses when operating at his best. England are back in action on Monday evening when they take on Latvia.
Featured image Julian Finney via Getty Images
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