The tale for Manchester United is a simple one - when Marcus Rashford doesn't score, they rarely win.
That trend has been ongoing, particularly since the season resumed after the World Cup. Rashford's form has gone into overdrive with the forward setting records for scoring in consecutvie games as he closes in on the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career.
However he was unable to find the net against Brighton on Thursday night as United were beaten by a stoppage time penalty. It means, since the win over Nottingham Forest in late December, the Red Devils have won only twice in games that Rashford hasn't scored in.
Rashford has notched in 11 of the 18 league games United have played in since the World Cup. Of the seven where he failed to score his team have won two, drawn two and lost three. The 25-year-old has received little support in the goalscoring charts with Bruno Fernandes the only other man into double figures.
Luke Shaw bemoaned their wastefulness in front of goal, which has been an ongoing theme. He told Sky Sports : "I know the problem, we know the problem, the problem is we don't score. I think in the first-half we had three or four big chances that we should be scoring and that has happened a lot of times this season."
The defender, who gave away the penalty late on after VAR spotted he'd handled the ball, also commented "maybe we're just not clinical enough".
United are by far the lowest scorers out of the top seven with their tally of 49 someway behind the league-leading Manchester City, who've scored 87 times. Erik ten Hag is confident in the team's forward strides but admits they "still have a way to go" in the final third.
He said: "I think we are improving. As you see also today, if you see [the] first half, we should have gone up [in the game], we didn't do, but we created our chances. So, we still have a way to go, [we need to] be more clinical and then we have to stay focused until the end of the game.”
Even after United's defeat at the Amex they remain in pole position to secure a return to the Champions League, although their loss will serve as motivation to Liverpool, who are trying to chase them down. The Merseysiders, who've won their last five on the bounce, are four points behind having played a game more.
