Marcus Rashford has thanked Aston Villa supporters for his warm welcome. The 27-year-old forward, who joined the Villans on loan from Manchester United in the final days of the January transfer window, made his debut in a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup fourth round.
Shortly after Morgan Rogers doubled Aston Villa's lead in the second half, Unai Emery brought on Rashford for Donyell Malen. The England international showed great promise, skipping past players, combining well with his new teammates and leading the press.
It didn't take long for Rashford to make an impact, lifting fans at Villa Park from their seats when he left Pedro Porro in the dust. The United loanee couldn't mark his first appearance for Unai Emery's side with a goal, but he certainly caught the eye.
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After booking Villa a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup, Rashford marked the occasion with a celebratory post on Instagram, which quickly eclipsed half a million likes. Alongside a selection of matchday pictures, he wrote: "Thank you for the warm welcome. Great team performance."
The Englishman also posted to his story, uploading a picture of himself and Rogers. Speaking to reporters after the Tottenham clash, Emery was pleased to see his new additions in action.
"Andres Garcia and Malen both played in the idea we had," said the Villa boss. "They were consistent and focused. As well, Marcus Rashford and Asensio, we watched their skill and how they helped us and will help us again in the next months in the different competitions we will face.
"We are in a new way after the changes we did. We are demanding because we still need to improve due to some tactical issues and how we want to compete in the Premier League."
Then, on the impact of Rashford and Marco Asensio, who joined Villa on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, Rogers said: "It pushes us along, we want to take what we can from the experienced players in the squad.
"It’s massive to have people like that in the building and hopefully we can just push each other. The second goal was important, we played well but we hadn’t killed the game off."
Rashford will be hoping to make his first start for Villa when they take on Ipswich Town on Saturday.
