'He's a physical specimen' – Rashford compared to Ronaldo by Man Utd boss Solskjaer

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has repeated his comparison of Marcus Rashford to Cristiano Ronaldo after Manchester United’s win over Newcastle United.

Rashford scored his 11th Premier League goal of the season – his best tally in a campaign – in the 4-1 Boxing Day victory at Old Trafford.

Solskjaer has compared the 22-year-old to former United star Ronaldo previously and the manager did so again after Rashford’s superb header.

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“He is a physical specimen. He’s looking after himself, working hard in the gym,” Solskjaer told a news conference.

“When you’ve got that spring, it’s just about having courage and getting up there.

“I remember a boy I used to play with that used to head it quite well when he was close to goal. And we compare them quite often.

“So, that’s another string to his bow Marcus that Cristiano used to get when he was getting to that age as well.”

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Anthony Martial netted a brace and Mason Greenwood also scored against Newcastle, who had taken the lead through Matty Longstaff.

Martial is up to six goals in the Premier League this season and Solskjaer said his team needed to make better use of the France forward.

“The key is to give him the ball. He’s not going to be the one who runs down the channels all day long,” he said.

“We need to give him the ball and feed him. I think the boys have said that many times themselves. We need to feed Anthony more, play forward more and into the front men.

“Especially Anthony, it’s important for him to touch the ball a lot then he feels in the game. Today was almost the same goal as he scored against [Manchester] City, down to the bottom with his left foot. It could have been his hat-trick.”

United are seventh, four points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, and make the trip to Burnley on Saturday before the turn of the year.

The Red Devils have a tough set of fixtures through January, with trips to Arsenal in the league and Wolves in the FA Cup to start 2020 before the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Manchester City at Old Trafford.

After welcoming Norwich to the Theatre of Dreams on January 11, Solskjaer’s men will then face a tough trip to Anfield to meet Liverpool.