The 24-year-old was finally called upon from the bench in the second half of Manchester United's 1-1 draw with Leicester after interim manager Ralf Rangnick opted to play Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes as strikers even with Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani both missing with illness and injury respectively.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville described the omission of Rashford from the starting line-up as a "real killer and tells us that Rangnick doesn't fancy him".
Neville added as cited by Sports Central: "To play without a centre-forward at home against Leicester when he's had a couple of weeks break away is a big decision by Ralf Rangnick. "Rashford needs a new manager like you wouldn't believe. This is a real low for him."
Rashford was dealt another big blow last month when he missed out on being selected for the latest England squad for the first time in six years with eight months to go until the Qatar World Cup.
This season has been his worst since bursting into the first team from the academy in 2016. Rashford had been on the right path to becoming a 30-goal forward after netting 22 times in all competitions in 2019-20 and following it up with 21 goals and 15 assists.
Only United legends Norman Whiteside, George Best and Ryan Giggs reached 250 games for the club at a younger age than him. But his form began to tail off last season which culminated in a penalty miss during England's Euro 2020 final shootout defeat with Italy, and now, with only five goals and two assists this term, his position for both club and country has come under threat.
The football world is still waiting for the forward who rose to great heights as a teenager to start delivering on the big stage.
So what has gone wrong for the Manchester United forward?
Euro 2020 agony and shoulder surgery
Rashford played through the pain barrier for the majority of last season after tearing a muscle in his left shoulder in November 2020.
He delayed surgery on the injury, instead choosing to help United reach the Europa League final while also knowing England were heading into a major summer tournament.
He said: "I've read some call me selfish for holding off getting the surgery this season but it was never about putting myself first and that's how we've reached this point, and something as a 23-year-old I've had to learn the hard way.
At times, painkilling injections were used on the injury which was causing restricted flexibility and strength thus affecting his speed. He was also managing a problem with his right foot after pulling ligaments in January 2021 against Manchester City.
United were beaten in the Europa League final by Villarreal on May 26, with Rashford missing a gilt-edged chance in that defeat, before he joined up with the England squad for Euro 2020.
While England prospered, the tournament could hardly have gone any worse for Rashford personally.
He played only 83 minutes of England's seven games, culminating with a penalty miss in the final's shootout after he had been brought on in the final minute of extra time to take a spot-kick.
The Wembley nightmare was a cruel end to a gruelling 59-game season, but perhaps the length of that season - and the reliance that United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer placed on him as the club's key goalscorer - inflicted the injury problems he began the current campaign with.
Rashford in a message to supporters after he, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were racially abused on social media following the Euros final: "I've had a difficult season, I think that's clear for everyone to see and I probably went into that final with a lack of confidence. "I've always backed myself for a penalty but something didn't quite feel right.
Rashford had surgery on his shoulder in early August before scoring on his return to action the following month after coming on as a substitute in United's 4-2 defeat at Leicester as results and performances went from bad to worse under Solskjaer.
Rashford started in United's next fixture - a 5-0 defeat at home to Liverpool - but was subbed after an hour. In Solskjaer's final match in charge of United three weeks later - a 4-1 loss at Watford - Rashford was hooked at half-time.
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