Marcus Rashford's 'dive' vs Southampton: Alternative angle tells a different story | OneFootball

After being thrashed 7-0 by Liverpool last weekend at Anfield, a match at Old Trafford against relegation-threatened Southampton was an ideal fixture for Manchester United to bounce back in.

But plans quickly began to unravel at The Theatre of Dreams, with Ten Hag’s side reduced to ten men just after the half-hour mark when Casemiro was sent off for a high challenge on Carlos Alcaraz.

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Although United clung on for a goalless draw and a point, Casemiro’s dismissal was not the only talking point of the game, with Marcus Rashford appearing to dive to try and win a penalty.

He was widely criticised by football fans online, with one labelling it as, “one of the worst attempts at a dive ever.”

Footage shows Marcus Rashford was clipped

But new footage of Rashford’s supposed ‘dive’ against Southampton shows that the 25-year-old might have been clipped after all.

With the video massively slowed down, Rashford appears to take the ball around the sliding Gavin Bazunu.

The Irish goalkeeper narrows the angle for a shot by forcing Rashford wide, but his knee then appears to clip Rashford’s left foot as the Englishman chases the ball down.

It is the barest of touches, but there does appear to be some contact.

Anthony Taylor elected not to show Rashford a yellow card for simulation but must have thought that any contact was not sufficient enough to award a penalty.

And with VAR not stepping in either, they also believed there was not enough evidence to overturn Taylor’s original decision.

How fans have reacted

Some Manchester United fans who have seen the clip have come to Rashford’s defence and believe that they should have been awarded a spot-kick.

But many others remain unconvinced that the contact was enough for a penalty, and that Rashford oversold the incident.

What is next for Manchester United and Southampton?

A goalless draw means that Manchester United remain third in the Premier League, although victory for Tottenham Hotspur against Nottingham Forest means that the north London side have closed the gap to third to just two points.

They will travel to Spain for the second leg of their Europa League tie against Real Betis, before taking on Fulham in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Their next Premier League fixture is not until April 2 when they play Newcastle United.

Meanwhile, other results mean that Southampton are now bottom of the league.

A solitary point against the ten men of United means that the Saints are two points adrift from safety, but they could climb out of the relegation zone by beating Brentford at St Mary’s Stadium on Wednesday night.