A disappointing defeat for Manchester United on Tuesday night was made all the worse by both Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard suffering injuries. United were beaten 2-0 by Paris Saint-Germain at Old Trafford in the last 16 of the Champions League and both Martial and Lingard limped out of the contest. Goals from Prisnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe condemned the Red Devils to defeat and leave them facing an uphill struggle to make the quarter-finals in the second leg in Paris.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was non-committal on the extent of the injuries to his two forwards, but spoke of the problems after the match. Jesse and Anthony give us something, let’s hope they’re not too serious,’ Solskjaer told BT Sport after the demoralising evening. ‘They’re muscle injuries, so we’ll just have to wait a couple of days.’
Alexis Sanchez replaced Lingard in first-half stoppage time and Solskjaer did not seem impressed with his performance at all. ‘I can’t do anything about Alexis Sanchez. When he plays he needs to find himself. ‘That’s the reality, that Jesse and Anthony have been big parts of our squad and second half we didn’t have the pace and movement to get in behind them. ‘It was an even game and it’s always going to be difficult against good teams. The first goal is always going to be important. The way we conceded it was disappointing. The second goal was quality – the ground he makes up to get into the box is brilliant. ‘He’s [Mbappe] lightning quick. You need to get your body in against him. This is a level up from what we have played against. That’s the level we want to get to. Top four is one thing, but Manchester United should be at the top.’ United travel to Paris to try and redress the balance on Wednesday 6 March.
