It is more than nine years since Rashford first played at the Etihad and scored the only goal to give victory to a Manchester United side managed by Louis van Gaal.
The England forward has achieved so much since then, but this season has been a toil.
The nadir came when United arrived at this stadium without him in December after he had been axed, along with Alejandro Garnacho, by head coach Ruben Amorim for below-par performances in training, in addition to a poor attitude.
While Garnacho was quickly restored to Amorim's squad, Rashford never played again.
The move to Villa has returned him to form, and to the England squad.
His penalty might only have been his fourth Villa goal, two of which came against Championship strugglers Preston in the FA Cup, but he has his mojo back.
Rashford could have scored after no more than 20 seconds, but racing on to Youri Tielemans' pass, he sent Ruben Dias the wrong way to create space, then watched his low shot come back off the post when he thought it was going in.
It was his rapid run that started the attack that led to Dias taking down Ramsey, and a decision so controversial Guardiola was still shaking his head when he saw a replay on the big screen as he took his seat for the second half.
Rashford spurned two more chances to score. One before the break, when he could not beat Stefan Ortega after his pace carried him into a one-on-one situation with the German goalkeeper. On the second occasion he skipped round Ortega but from an acute angle could only find the side-netting.
Predictably, the home fans gave Rashford grief as he was replaced by Ollie Watkins late in the game. His response was to quietly offer his applause to the visiting fans.
Wherever his career takes him next, Rashford is in a far better position than when he should have come here, but did not, with Manchester United four months ago.
Image source, Getty Images
