Marcus Rashford, the Manchester United striker, had a birthday party at the nightclub Chinawhite a few hours after his team’s derby defeat by Manchester City.
The left back Tyrell Malacia, who has been unable to play all season because of a knee injury, and other close friends of Rashford attended the party at the upmarket nightclub on Deansgate in Manchester city centre after United had lost 3-0 to their bitter rivals on Sunday.
Sources close to Rashford said the party had been organised before the derby and that the forward, who turned 26 on Tuesday, trained as normal on Monday. Rashford’s representative and United both refused to comment on the matter.
City handed Rashford and United a harrowing defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday
DAVE THOMPSON/AP
Rashford, like most of his team-mates, played poorly in the defeat by Pep Guardiola’s side. The England international has endured a disappointing season overall, scoring only one goal in 13 appearances for his club.
The defeat by City left United eighth in the Premier League table after ten matches, 11 points behind the leaders Tottenham Hotspur
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Meanwhile, the United centre back Jonny Evans, said that his team-mates lost control of their emotions in the second half as they tried in vain to claw their way back into a hugely one-sided derby.
Bruno Fernandes, in particular, came in for criticism for lashing out at John Stones as he tried to chase down the ball, appearing to injure himself in the process.
The United captain was then booked for a lunging tackle on Jérémy Doku while Antony, the substitute, received a yellow card for a spat with the Belgium winger.
“I think once they started passing the ball we probably got a bit disjointed in terms of our press and we became a bit too emotional,” Evans, 35, said.
“It’s understandable. It’s a derby. You are chasing the game trying to get back into it and we became a bit ragged. There was a spell with 20 minutes to go where they were cutting through us a bit too easily.”
Evans was unhappy that Paul Tierney, the referee, awarded a penalty to City in the first half after the VAR spotted that Rasmus Hojlund had grabbed Rodri’s arm as they jostled in the box.
Evans did not understand why the officials awarded City a penalty in the first half
MOLLY DARLINGTON/REUTERS
“You see that a lot in the box,” Evans said. “It didn’t look like Rasmus had a hold of his shirt or anything — he had one arm on him, which you see defenders using a lot. It’s quite disappointing. To be sent to the VAR, the referee is being told that he has made a clear and obvious error and the referee’s in a difficult position then.
“He’s almost got to give the decision, so I was baffled by that one, everyone was.”
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Jaap Stam, the former United defender, lashed out at Ten Hag’s players, claiming that they lacked aggression and desire.
“If you talk to the players, or the coaches, or the manager they will say, ‘We wanted it,’ but from the stands, it didn’t look like they really wanted to go for it,” Stam, 51, told MUTV, the club’s in-house TV channel. “It was very poor. Look at the players’ body language.
“Of course, you are disappointed. But you are United, you need to step up and show everyone what you are capable of and we didn’t see that today.
“The second half was hard to watch because there were spells where City had five or six minutes’ possession.”
