What Manchester United captain Harry Maguire told Marcus Rashford in the dressing room following Real Betis goal
After Marcus Rashford scored the only goal of the game against Real Betis, Harry Maguire commended him by saying that he had managed to convert a very difficult opportunity.
The goal, which came from a powerful 25-yard shot, helped  Manchester United secure a 1-0 victory in Seville, thereby advancing to the Europa League quarter-finals with a 5-1 aggregate win.
Although Rashford had missed two clear chances earlier, he remained undeterred and demonstrated his unwavering confidence by scoring in the 56th minute, which effectively ended any hopes of a Betis comeback. This goal also marked Rashford’s 27th goal of the season.
“I just said to him in the dressing room, he scored the hardest one. I don’t know if it bobbled or something, it’s not like him to miss that chance,” Maguire told MUTV.
“He’s on fire for us and is scoring big goals at important times and I think that’s an important goal in the game. We spoke how important the first goal was. After the first five minutes or the second half, the last 40 minutes of the game we really control the game and then we should have seen the job out with being a bit more clinical.”
United faced a strong start from the hosts, who were cheered on by a large crowd of 54,000 people. Despite some early opportunities for the hosts to score, United managed to maintain a professional performance, which satisfied Maguire.
“I think it was a good performance. I think we spoke about how important the first goal was once we got the first goal we control the game thoroughly,” he said.
“We should have really gone on and won the game 2-0 or 3-0 in the end. And we also spoke about the first 20 minutes and how crucial they’d be. We knew that they’d come out and throw absolutely everything at us for 20 minutes and play at ridiculous intensity and one that we had to match and I felt like we did match it at times.
“Although we probably give them a little, probably one or two more chances than we would have liked and David made some good saves, but they’re a good team. They are fifth in La Liga, challenging for the Champions League spots.”
What Manchester United captain Harry Maguire told Marcus Rashford in the dressing room following Real Betis goal