Champions League: PSG End Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Honeymoon With Adroit Victory Over Man Utd At Old Trafford (Photos & Video)

Chris Wright

12th, February 2019

3 Comments

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PSG brought Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s undefeated run as interim Manchester United manager to an end with a succinct 2-0 win at Old Trafford in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

On an evening in which Thomas Tuchel got his plan of attack right from the off, a stultified United were often reduced to bystanders as goals from Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe gave PSG victory on foreign soil.

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United’s cause wasn’t helped when both Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard went off injured within five minutes of half-time, with the subsequent introduction of Alexis Sanchez once again proving somewhat akin to being reduced to 10 men.

Kimpembe then put the Parisians ahead in the 53rd minute when the defender came flouncing in at the far post to volley Angel Di Maria’s corner past David De Gea from point blank range.

Mbappe soon doubled the lead on the hour mark, galloping through the middle at full chat to get on the end of another inch-perfect Di Maria centre.

Just two minutes later it took a trademark De Gea reaction save to prevent Mbappe adding to his tally – a goal that would have seen him score his 15th Champions League goal and therefore move past Ronaldo Nazario’s career tally at the tender age of 20.

From that point PSG began to idle and slow things down while maintaining full control as United were pretty much left to their own devices – the travelling fans goading their hosts with choruses of ‘Ole!’ as passes were exchanged and minutes were wicked away.

However, there was still one more flashpoint left to come as the home side were actually reduced to 10 men in injury time when Paul Pogba was shown a second yellow for once again crucially mistiming one of those ‘leg dangle’ things he does.

And so it ended 2-0 to the Ligue 1 champions, with United – by Solskhjaer’s own post-match admission – facing a “mountain” of a second leg if they intend to continue fighting on the European front this season.

Pogba will definitely be missing through suspension, but United might also be without Martial and Lingard depending on the severity of their respective muscular injuries.

Honestly, depleted as they were, it’s difficult to see PSG, who look far more seasoned, letting this one slip from this particular vantage point.

Posted in Champions League, Man Utd, Videos

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3 Comments

  1. jackie wilshere says:

    my hats off to Chris / Pies just for using the word “Adroit” !

  2. Bruno says:

    Young is awful. He simply can’t cross the ball. I think we’re on the right path with Ole, but we need a few ready made star players in order to compete with these teams. Definetely a right back, a monster of a center back, also a midfielder because we don’t really dominate games there and a really great player for that right wing. Lingard is very good, but we need more than that. United need to buy players looking to compete with Real, Barca, PSG, City… not Tottenham. We don’t need more very good players, we have them, we need ultimate level players.

    But what really bothers me is the crowd inside Old Trafford. I was ashamed. From the 1st minute to last, completely silent, while 4,000 PSG fans looked at home. The least you can do is create a hostile atmosphere. Old Trafford is like a SPA for the visiting teams, it’s a shame.

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