Jose Mourinho hails "fantastic" Marcus Rashford

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has heaped praise on Marcus Rashford after the striker's goalscoring display during this afternoon's 2-0 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford.

Rashford was something of a surprise choice to lead the line in place of the rested Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but it took less than seven minutes for him to merit his inclusion as he gave the Red Devils an early lead.

Mourinho has previously been critical of his strikers - including Rashford - but he was pleased with the 19-year-old's contribution against the league leaders.

"He played fantastically well, I think he did also a very good game at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup," he told Sky Sports News.

"Today he scored and it was at the beginning of the match which gave the team confidence and stability. The kid played fantastically well, but everybody fought and did what they had to do.

"[The FA Cup] game was totally controlled when we played with 11 players, and only the decision that made us play with 10 players gave Chelsea a chance to be dominant. We knew that playing this way would be very difficult for them."

The victory means that United move back into fifth place, four points adrift of the final Champions League spot.