WATCH: Marcus Rashford fires Manchester United into derby lead with wonder strike vs City

Marcus Rashford celebrates after scoring for Manchester United against Manchester City in the Premier League in March 2024.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Marcus Rashford produced a moment of brilliance to fire Manchester United into an early lead against Manchester City in the derby at the Etihad on Sunday.

The England forward, who has faced criticism from fans for his performances for United this season, has been well below the level he showed last season.

In 2022/23, Rashford netted an impressive 30 goals in 56 games for the Red Devils in all competitions, but he had hit only five ahead of Sunday's derby clash.

This strike was a special one, though, and a return to form for the 26-year-old in a huge fixture.

Rashford received the ball from Bruno Fernandes after the Portuguese held the ball up outside the City area and rolled a low pass back to the Manchester-born forward.

Over 25 yards from goal, Rashford unleashed an unstoppable right-footed drive which flew past Ederson and into the Brazilian's top-right corner to give United the lead after eight minutes.

A win for United in the derby would keep Erik ten Hag's side within eight points of the top four, with Aston Villa currently occupying the final Champions League space and Tottenham five points behind Unai Emery's men in fifth.

Such a result would also do a huge favour to United's fierce rivals Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp's side four points ahead of City at the top of the table ahead of Sunday's derby clash.

In the derby at Old Trafford in late October, United were beaten 3-0 by City.

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Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.