Marcus Rashford: Five statistics that reveal Manchester United striker's brilliant rise to stardom

A week ago, the 18-year-old was little more than a talented prospect at Old Trafford

Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford (Getty Images)

Marcus Rashford's sudden rise to stardom at Manchester United continued apace yesterday, with the Wythenshawe-born academy graduate bagging a brace against title contenders Arsenal.

A week ago, the 18-year-old was little more than a talented prospect at Old Trafford and one who looked some way off regular first-team exposure.

All that changed on Thursday night, when Anthony Martial felt a twang while warming up for the Europa League last-32 second leg against Midtjylland.

Rashford subsequently came into the starting line-up and, in his 170 minutes of competitive football, has already scored four goals.

Those are the cold, hard figures but dig a little deeper and there are other stories which show just how well Rashford has done.

Five statistics which show how brilliant Rashford's start has been...

He scored with his first shot of competitive first-team football

Rashford’s strike against Midtjylland in the Europa League last-32 first leg on Thursday came with his first shot of competitive first-team football.

The youngster tapped home with ease after Juan Mata had cut a ball back across the face of goal.

He scored with the first Premier League shot of his career too

Rashford repeated the trick yesterday and took the very first chance of his league football career, sweeping a shot into Petr Cech’s top left-hand corner after the loose ball had fell to him in the penalty area.

Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves noted how clinical Rashford had been in his post-match interview with the 18-year-old, to which the player replied: "Yeah, same as Europa."

He is the youngest Premier League player to score a brace on his debut

At 18 years and 120 days old, Rashford became the youngest Premier League debutant to score a brace in his first game, beating his team-mate James Wilson by a mere 36 days.

Wilson, currently on loan at Brighton and Hove Albion, bagged two against Hull City in May 2014.

He scored his first Premier League brace at exactly the same age as Wayne Rooney

That’s not where the quirky coincidences end, though.

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney was also 18 years and 120 days old when he scored his first Premier League double, for Everton against Southampton in February 2004.

By that time, Rooney had already made 67 appearances for Everton.

He has now scored the same amount of goals for Manchester United as Radamel Falcao

Radamel Falcao endured a torrid time at Old Trafford last season and Rashford’s rise, by comparison, only acts as a further indictment.

Whereas the Colombian scored just four times in 29 appearances, the youngster has taken just 170 minutes to match that total.