Manchester United face a near impossible task to salvage their Champions League campaign after Paris Saint-Germain handed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the first defeat of his interim tenure. The Norwegian had presided over 10 wins from his 11 games in charge and injuries to the French champions’ star forwards Neymar and Edinson Cavani suggested the tie would be far more evenly balanced than had it been played when it was originally drawn back in December. With a forward line built around the speed of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard, United had swatted aside the Premier League cannon fodder they’d faced in recent weeks.
One turbo-charged Paul Pogba run aside, the hosts failed to pose a serious threat to veteran PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon during a first-half disrupted by the whistle-happy referee Daniele Orsato who cautioned five players in the opening 35 minutes.
Indeed, Thomas Tuchel’s side created the clearest opportunity of the opening period, with Kylian Mbappe losing his footing at the crucial moment and skewing his shot narrowly wide having been located by Julian Draxler’s clever first-time pass. United, in fairness, were disrupted by the muscle injuries sustained by Martial and Lingard who were replaced by Juan Mata and Alexis Sanchez either side of the break.
PSG sensed blood and tore into their opponents after the restart and opened the scoring through Presnel Kimpembe who volleyed home from point-blank range after Nemanja Matic had misjudged the flight of Angel Di Maria’s corner. The former United winger, booed throughout and shoved into the advertising hoardings by Ashley Young during the first half, set-up Mpabbe’s 23rd goal of his increasingly prolific season seven minutes later, when his low centre was cleverly turned home by the France international. David De Gea kept his side in the tie with smart saves from Mbappe and Juan Bernat but with United comprehensively second best on their own path, the Spaniard can expect an equally busy evening in the return leg in three weeks’ time, particularly with Paul Pogba sent off late on for a reckless tackle on Dani Alves.
