Rashford enjoying his football again after first Villa goals

Marcus Rashford is finally enjoying his football again after scoring his first Aston Villa goals to help them into the FA Cup semi-finals on Sunday.

Rashford scored twice in the space of five second-half minutes as Villa beat Championship side Preston North End 3-0 at Deepdale, with Jacob Ramsey also on target.

The England forward had gone nine games without a goal since arriving on loan from Manchester United, but he had four assists to his name before grabbing his cup brace.

Since his Villa debut, only Mohamed Salah (10), Bruno Fernandes (10) and Marco Asensio (seven) have been involved in more goals than Rashford (six – two goals, four assists) among all Premier League players in all competitions.

Villa will face Crystal Palace in the last four in late April, with either Manchester City or Nottingham Forest meeting the victors in May’s final.

“It’s a great feeling,” Rashford told BBC Sport after the win. “It’s always nice for a forward to get a goal, so hopefully it continues.

“I feel like I’ve been getting fitter and playing better football since I’ve been here. I missed a lot of football before joining up with them. My body feels good and I’m enjoying my football for now.

“We have to take it one game at a time and give it 100% on the pitch and see where it takes us. We’re very ambitious.”

1999 – Aston Villa’s 3-0 win over Preston is their biggest winning margin in an FA Cup game since January 1999, when they beat Hull City 3-0. Villa have reached their first FA Cup semi-final since 2015. Cruise. pic.twitter.com/yK4w0Ys1Ao

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 30, 2025

Villa have the option to make Rashford’s move permanent for a reported £40million at the end of the season, but boss Unai Emery would not be drawn on whether the forward will stay.

He suggested Villa might need to qualify for Europe to have a chance of keeping him, as they battle for a Champions League spot.

“We can’t waste time speaking about that,” Emery said when asked about Rashford’s future.

“If next year we are in the Champions League, in the Europa, or Conference League or not, or we don’t win a trophy, it is completely different.”

Asked about Rashford’s adaptation, the Spaniard added: “There is still work to do, but today he did one step forward. He is feeling comfortable, getting confident and scoring goals.

“He was obviously getting better, but today it was more in his adaptation and helping us. He’s playing in the idea, in the plan we did with him.

“He has played more as a winger on the left side but he’s played in some moments as a striker. Today we decided to play him as a striker for his quality, his power and the way he exploits things.

“The process we have with him is not changing. There is still work to do because he came here after not training consistently. Playing more and being with the national team will help him to feel better and today was confirmation of that.”

Villa return to Premier League action against Brighton on Wednesday, then face Forest next Saturday ahead of the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Paris Saint-Germain.