In the
competition where he enjoyed his finest moment as a Man Utd player, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s managerial honeymoon came to an
abrupt end.
"Mountains are there to be climbed. You can't lie down. Today was a reality check on the level from the top teams."
Against a PSG side missing Neymar and Edinson Cavani, Solskjaer lost two of his own dynamic front three before the start of the second half, and then watched as strikes from Fresnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe earned PSG a 2-0 win and left United needing another memorable European comeback - and they will have to do it without Paul Pogba, who was sent off in the second half.
Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard returned to the United line-up,
having been rested in the stroll against Fulham on Saturday, with Eric Bailly’s
inclusion ahead of Phil Jones at centre half designed to counter the pace of
Mbappe.
Early on, there was all the intensity about United that we have
come to expect from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, but little of the quality on
the ball, with Rashford’s deflected cross forcing Gianluigi Buffon into his
only meaningful save of the first half.
Instead, the on-field official, Daniele
Orsato took centre stage, dishing out before the break, though Ashley Young’s
naughty late shove to send Di Maria hurtling into a painful collision with the
railings went unpunished, with the Englishman already in the book.
That card had come when he was forced to haul Mbappe down, the
20-year-old for the most part isolated, but on two occasions displaying an
electric a 50-yard burst and a clean pair of heels.
Having gifted him the chance to face PSG without two of their best
players because of injury, the footballing gods turned on Solskjaer, as Jesse
Lingard and Anthony Martial both went down late in the first half.
Martial made it to the interval before
being replaced by Juan Mata, while Lingard didn’t even get that far, making way
for Alexis Sanchez in stoppage time.
The changes cost United some of their rhythm and impetus at the
start of the second half, but they could not be blamed for Nemanja Matic’s
baffling decision to let Kimpembe run free to open the scoring.
The Frenchman had had a torrid first half,
being harried in possession, and perhaps lucky to escape a second yellow, but
he galloped in at the back post unmarked to volley Di Maria’s corner past De
Gea for a huge away goal.
And things got worse less than ten minutes later, as Mbappe gave
both Lindelof and Bailly a ten yard head start and still got between the pair
to slide Di Maria’s perfectly-weighted cross home.
United were on the ropes, PSG not nearly as bothered by the threat
of Sanchez and Mata as they had been Martial and, in particular, Lingard.
Mbappe should’ve made it three, but could
only dink straight at De Gea after a poor touch forced him wide, before the
Spaniard had to tip over from Bernat.
United weathered the storm, and in doing so, probably just about
kept themselves in the tie. Indeed, the fact that Solskjaer withdrew Rashford,
rather than a more defensive player when throwing Romelu Lukaku into the mix
late on, suggest he things 2-0 is a reversible deficit.
But they did little here,
barely creating a chance against the colossal Thiago Silva, and Marquinhos,
man-of-the-match and ludicrously comfortable in midfield, to suggest they will
find a way through in Paris, where there will be no homecoming for Pogba, sent
off late on for a horrible high challenge Dani Alves.
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