Erik ten Hag said that Marcus Rashford's two goals against Leicester helped Manchester United bounce back from a "rubbish" start as the bidding battle for the Old Trafford club heats up.
Managing director of one of Qatar's biggest banksSheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe are competing offers that United's owners, the Glazer family, are evaluating.
Despite speculations that United may have a new owner within six weeks, other bids could still come through, but Ten Hag's team has kept its attention squarely on the playing field.
In Ten Hag's first season, Rashford has been crucial to United's strong performance, and the English forward was too hot for Leicester at Old Trafford.
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"Leicester played excellently in the first half, but we were terrible in the second." We could have been more critical and organized. Thanks to David de Gea," Ten Hag stated, we only managed to maintain our clean sheet.
"The second half was fantastic after we made some repairs. It was the style of play I wanted to see from our team.
This season, Rashford has scored 24 goals for United in all competitions, the most he has ever scored in a single season.
Since they returned from the World Cup in December, he has scored 16 goals in 17 matches.
The 25-year-old is also the first United player to score since Wayne Rooney in 2010 in seven straight home league games.
Before Ten Hag's arrival last season, Rashford struggled, leading to rumours that the forward could try to leave Old Trafford.
Yet, as Rashford rediscovers the form that made him a teen star, he has emerged as United's most significant player.
He's moving into position, but remember that these are team goals, so remember our squad, Ten Hag added.
Silverware shortage
United has won three of their last four league games to occupy third in the standings, five points behind leaders Arsenal.
Ten Hag downplayed the chances of Arsenal, who have a game in hand over United, overtaking his team.
"The title race is not something we consider. We consider the upcoming game,".
Yet even if United does not win the championship, there are still plenty of chances to have a memorable season in what may be the last one under the hated Glazers' 18-year rule.
Since winning the League Cup and the Europa League in 2017, United has yet to win a significant prize.
With United hosting Barcelona in the second leg of their Europa League play-off on Thursday and, three days later, taking against Newcastle in the League Cup final, the trophy drought could end this season.
Moreover, United has advanced to the FA Cup fifth round, where they will take on West Ham in March.
Rambunctious Rashford
Ten Hag made five changes to his team after their 2-2 draw against Barcelona on Thursday to reenergize them for their crucial week.
Harvey Barnes, a Leicester winger, rushed onto Kelechi Iheanacho's pass, and David De Gea produced a great save to stop him.
The only player saving United was De Gea, who dived to his right and made an incredible save on Iheanacho's stooping header.
De Gea's 180th clean sheet for United, which brought him even with Peter Schmeichel's club record, was a fitting way to cap the game.
In the 25th minute, a sucker punch from Rashford came after Leicester's bombardment.
With Leicester's rickety offside trap uncovered by Bruno Fernandes's exquisite pass with the outside of his boot, Rashford raced through to shoot a precise finish into the far corner from 12 yards.
Rashford extended United's lead in the 56th minute with speed and movement, making him occasionally unplayable.
Rashford accelerated after receiving a pass from Fred, then calmly guided the ball past Ward. His celebrations were momentarily cut short by an offside decision VAR later overruled.
Jadon Sancho scored from Fernandes' ball in the 61st minute to put the outcome beyond question while Leicester was in chaos.
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