TEENAGE sensation Marcus Rashford struck again as Manchester United won 1-0 at Manchester City on Sunday to rekindle its top-four challenge.

    Plucked from the youth team to answer an injury crisis last month, the 18-year-old striker took his tally of goals to five.

    Having scored two goals in each of the important games against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League and Arsenal in the Premier League, Rashford marked his first appearance in a Manchester derby by sprinting past the hapless Martin Demichelis and sidefooting home in the 16th minute.

    Rashford’s pace and exuberance was too much for the 35-year-old Demichelis, who was substituted in the 53rd minute on a day he and City will want to forget. City, with just one win from its last six games, stayed in fourth place but is now only one point clear of both United and West Ham with eight games left.

    “Rashford is very quick and Demichelis looked like the years are catching up with him,” United manager Louis van Gaal said of a defender he used to coach at Bayern Munich.

    It was a huge result for United, with Van Gaal having billed the game “do or die” for his side’s top-four chances following its elimination from the Europa League on Thursday. Amid all the speculation over his future, Van Gaal could still win the FA Cup and guide United back into the Champions League in the final two months of the season.

    Meanwhile, if City’s current form is anything to go by, incoming manager Pep Guardiola will be taking over a Europa League team next season. City’s only victory in the last six league games was against last-place Aston Villa, and the team has failed to score in four of its last five matches.

    “I am not unhappy with the performance of the team,” Pellegrini said. “I don’t think we deserved to lose.”

    (SD-Agencies)