No one expected Solsjkaers’ men to be victorious with 10 regular starters out of the lineup. Man United’s exciting fightback gives them a place in the final eight.
History does repeat itself and yet again, PSG blows their 2-0 lead at the Parc De Princes. Man United started the game in the best possible way, with Lukaku giving United the early lead from a sloppy pass by Thilo Kehrer. The young German attempted to make a pass to captain Thiago Silva but misplaced it and landed into the path of in-form Romelu Lukaku, who slots it past Buffon.
This is exactly what I spoke about in my Keys-to-the-game where I mentioned United should score first and ride the momentum. It underlines how important drawing first blood is and how it can affect the mentalities of the two teams. Once United got the first goal you noticed the brief energy surge within the team and you could see the youngsters getting more involved.
That was until Mbappe set up Juan Bernat for his third Champions League goal of the campaign. PSG continued the pressure until Marcus Rashford sent in a long distance shot that was too hot for Buffon to handle and dropped it for Romelu Lukaku to slot away his second of the night. After that point, you could see the frustration and fear settling down upon the Parisians.
United started to sit deeper and play more defensive as PSG continued to press but were unsuccessful in their efforts to lengthen their lead. United was able to hold off the French Giants but at the same time weren’t having any luck of their own in advancing in attack. Brief bursts of energy from Lukaku and Rashford saw the only real threats from the Red Devils as they continued to hold on.
It wasn’t until the 90+2′ when Kimpembe jumped up to block a shot and the ball struck him just below the elbow inside the 18-yard box. The referee initially gave a corner kick but then went over to VAR to check if a penalty was needed. The penalty was then given and saw Marcus Rashford come up to take it. The Englishman belted it past Buffon who dove in the right direction. This goal put them past PSG on aggregate 3-3 with United having more away goals.
What comes to mind
What comes to mind with all the events that took place on Wednesday night. It was not a penalty and I’ll explain why; Kimpembe, Verrati, and Bernat were all covering the shooting lane. There was no obvious goal-scoring opportunity on top of that, Kimpembe jumped up and turned away from the ball while his arm stayed by his side – so there was no clear intention.
Finally, the decision should have been a corner because that was the original call and for a referee to revert a call he has to be 100% sure of the play. Even though it was a poor performance from the French side, you can’t give a penalty in that situation in that stage of the game. Quite unlucky for the Parisians.
United have now moved onto the final eight, waiting to see who they will be matched with. In the meantime, their starters can focus on healing up. This will definitely be a game to remember. Lukakua’s form continued as he scored his third brace in as many games. Rashford also scored his first penalty for the club, and what a time be scoring it.
United has no choice after this but to give the United wheel to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a permanent basis.