Marcus Rashford DID score in Carabao Cup final! Man Utd confirm forward credited with strike following own goal confusion

• Red Devils faced Magpies at Wembley
• Casemiro opened the scoring
• Second effort deflected in off Sven Botman

WHAT HAPPENED? The Red Devils locked horns with the Magpies at Wembley Stadium on Sunday with Carabao Cup glory up for grabs. Erik ten Hag’s side ran out 2-0 winners on the day, with Casemiro putting them on their way to a first trophy triumph in six years. In-form Rashford celebrated as though he had doubled United’s lead six minutes before half-time, but that effort initially went down as an own goal after flicking off Newcastle defender Sven Botman and into the roof of the net.

IS RASHFORD BEING GIVEN THE GOAL? United have now announced that the goal will be credited to Rashford, with a statement on the club’s official website reading: “Manchester United can confirm Marcus Rashford has been officially credited with the second goal in the Carabao Cup final win over Newcastle United. The homegrown forward latched on to a pass by Wout Weghorst and fired goalwards, soon after Casemiro had headed the Reds in front.

“The ball took a deflection off Sven Botman and looped over debutant keeper Loris Karius and was initially registered as an own goal despite it appearing to be Rashford's strike, as he produced his trademark celebration. However, the club has received clarification that Rashford is indeed the goalscorer as his shot was deemed to be on target by the various match officials at Wembley. This means this is the first time he has found the net in a major final and a sweet moment after his last appearance at the national stadium was the European Championship final shoot-out defeat to Italy with England.”

IN TWO PHOTOS:

Getty Images

Getty

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Rashford now has 25 goals for United across all competitions this season – which represents a personal-best return for him – and he ended a successful Carabao Cup campaign with six strikes recorded after finding the target in every round he competed in.

WHAT'S NEXT? With Rashford being awarded United’s second goal against Newcastle, Dutch striker Wout Weghorst has been credited with an assist and everyone in the Old Trafford camp is hoping that they will have further cause for celebration before the 2022-23 campaign comes to a close.