Marcus Rashford has admitted “emotion got the better of me” in response to being heckled by Manchester United fans after a video circulated on social media following the defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
In the 30-second video posted on Twitter, fans waiting after the game call out Rashford for not approaching by shouting "come on Rashford" and "after that performance? Come on guys". The forward then turns towards the fans, appears to respond and then talks to a nearby security guard, all of which cannot be heard.
In a tweet entitled 'There are two sides to every story', Rashford has responded to the football. He wrote: "A video can paint a thousand words and in this case inaccurate info being shared on social media.
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"Guys for weeks I've been heckled, threatened, questioned and last night my emotion got the better of me. I'm a human being. Reading and hearing that stuff about yourself everyday it wears you down. No one is more critical of my performance than me.
"But what you see in the video lacks context. I had been heckled from the minute I stepped foot outside the ground, abuse not just aimed at my football.
"People were looking for a reaction from me. Phones were at the ready.
"Of course, I should have just walked straight past and ignored it, that's what we're supposed to do right? I want to clarify two things.
"The first being what I actually said to the man throwing abuse at me which (was) 'come over here and say it to my face' (a fact security can back up) and secondly, the fact I used my forefinger to direct the fan to 'come over here and say it to my face'. I did not gesture with my middle finger.
"I'm not entitled. This isn't ego.
"I'm upset. I'm disappointed.
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"And in that moment it was silly but I was being human."
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Manchester United quote-tweeted the statement on Twitter with a red heart, in a show of support for Rashford. The defeat saw United crash out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage, with Rashford replacing Anthony Elanga in the 67th minute but was unable to turn the game in the Reds' favour.
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