Rashford misses United game after Ten Hag criticism

LONDON (AP) — Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford was missing for the Premier League match against Fulham on Saturday, a day after manager Erik ten Hag criticized the player's decision to go to a nightclub party after a derby loss to Manchester City.

United said Rashford's absence was down to a heavy knock to his leg in training and that he failed a fitness test before the game.

Ten Hag had been unhappy with Rashford going to a nightclub for a pre-arranged birthday party hours after the 3-0 defeat to City on Sunday. Rashford turned 26 on Tuesday.

“I spoke with him about it," Ten Hag said Friday. "It’s unacceptable, I told him, he apologized and that’s it. For the rest it’s an internal matter.”

Ten Hag repeated that it was an “internal matter” when asked if Rashford had been fined for the incident.

Rashford was among the substitutes in the 3-0 loss to Newcastle in the League Cup on Wednesday, with Ten Hag saying that was due to rotation rather than punishment.

Rashford was dropped to the bench for a game against Wolverhampton last season for timekeeping, but Ten Hag rejected the notion that the England forward is not attuned to his demands.

“Your suggestion is not right,” he said. “He’s fitting in, he’s very motivated to put things right.

“I know which effort he is putting in. He’s totally with us. So, he makes a mistake, but that doesn’t say he’s not fitting in. I see him every day in training, what he’s doing, I know. So, he makes one mistake but also, off the pitch, what he is doing, how he lives, and I’m sure he is doing everything right to help the team to perform and to let us win.”

Rashford has scored just one goal for United this season. He scored 30 goals for the team last season.

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