Manchester United have had an impressive recovery from their shocking start under Erik ten Hag.
After having lost their first two Premier League games, they have roared back to life and now sit equal on points with third-place Newcastle United with an extra game in hand.
A lot of things have happened over the period. Cristiano Ronaldo has had a shocking exit after lambasting the club in an interview.
The Glazers have put the club up for sale and can leave after an 18-year reign. But among the most positive things to happen is the return to form for Marcus Rashford.
The Englishman has been reinvigorated by Ten Hag, being played in areas where he’s the most comfortable and in a system that plays into his strong points.
Rashford is United’s top-scorer in all competitions this season with 12 goals and he has also scored in all of his side’s five games since the campaign resumed after the World Cup.
One new thing that has been seen in Marcus’ game is actually not even his in-game performances. It is his new-found celebration that he has been producing after scoring goals.
Rashford’s new signature move sees him stand straight and put a finger on the temple of his head, being dubbed as a ‘cold celebration’ by fans online.
As is the case in football, popular things catch on really quickly. Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘SUIII’ celebration has been imitated hundreds of times since its inception and so has Erling Haaland’s mantra signature move.
Rashford’s celebration has inspired quite a few footballers and he’s had his share of imitators as well.
Indeed, the United forward appears to have inspired a few other players to pull off the ‘Rashford celebration’.
AS Roma star Tammy Abraham did the celebration after scoring a dramatic last-minute equalizer in his side’s 2-2 draw against AC Milan in their first game after the World Cup break.
He posted a picture of him doing the move on his Instagram, sparking a reply from Rashford. In the replies, Tammy wrote: “Learning from you bro.”
But not just his national team colleagues, but some other not-so-popular names are also catching on to this new trend created by the United star.
Chesterfield FC’s forward Armando Dobra did the celebration after scoring one of his goals in his side’s 3-3 draw against West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup on Saturday.
While more and more players keep getting inspired into imitating Marcus’ ‘cold’ celebration, the Englishman is also being accused of stealing the move itself.
Indeed, some rival fans have pointed out that Rashford is not the first one to do this kind of celebration. Pictures of players like Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves and Olympique Lyonnais midfielder Houssain Aouar doing the celebration have resurfaced.
In fact, even France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni did this same kind of celebration after scoring a world-class goal in his side’s 2-1 win over England in the World Cup quarter-finals last month.
The only difference between the celebrations of these players to that of Rashford is that the United star sometimes closes his eyes in a more ‘peaceful’ version of it.
Many players might’ve done it in the past, but thanks to the insane goal-scoring rate of the Man United forward and him bringing the move out in every game – this celebration is the Marcus Rashford celebration – for now.