Paris Saint Germain put in a stunning second-half showing to win 2-0 at Old Trafford against ten-man Manchester United on Tuesday evening.
Despite Thomas Tuchel’s men absorbing considerable pressure throughout the first-half, they were by far the better side after the restart. Presnel Kimpembe was the surprise first name on the score sheet with a thumping, close-range finish from a corner just after the break, with Kylian Mbappe polishing off an excellent move on the hour to make it two.
The frustration boiled over for the Red Devils with Paul Pogba receiving his second booking in the closing stages and receiving his marching orders.
Slow burner
It was a competitive if unspectacular start to the game at Old Trafford and former United wideman Angel di Maria had the first shot of the game as he curled just wide of David De Gea’s far post. Kylian Mbappe was then played clean through by Marco Verratti but somehow put his effort wide from close range.
di Maria then had the best chance of the game to open the scoring as he rounded De Gea, only for the Spaniard to somehow stick out a glove and halt his low effort. To the Argentine’s relief, the linesman had raised his flag, ruling out any opener should the ball had been put in the net.
PSG claim the lead
Thomas Tuchel’s men resumed extremely well and Mbappe was picked out by Dani Alves to force a great, low save out of De Gea. The scores did not stay level for much longer as from the resultant corner, PSG claimed the lead. di Maria was the man to cross the ball and found Kimpembe unmarked in the box to lash home the opening goal and his first strike for the French champions.
Dani Alves almost doubled the lead not long later as the ball fell to the Brazilian on the edge of the box. He took it on the volley, with an important block from Paul Pogba keeping the advantage at one.
Ander Herrera then tried his luck from range for the hosts but his volley looped just wide of Gianluigi Buffon’s goal.
Sweeping move sees Mbappe double the lead
Despite Mbappe being quiet for the majority of the game, he was the man to extend the lead with an excellent finish. di Maria was afforded plenty of room on the left-side and motored away from Ashley Young. He then produced a teasing cross towards the forward that was clinically stroked into the bottom corner.
The youngster should have extended the lead even further as he raced through but De Gea stuck out a strong hand to deny the World Cup winner. The Spaniard then had to be alert again to paw away Juan Bernat’s powerful drive.
With the game drawing to a close, the frustration appeared to show for Pogba as he clattered into Dani Alves. Having already been shown a booking in the first-half, he was given a second yellow card and sent from the pitch as the Red Devils fell to the first defeat under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Final Thoughts
Despite the confidence heading into their clash, United really failed to get out of first gear at Old Trafford. That does not suggest that PSG were at their brilliant best as throughout the first-half they too struggled. However, a seven minute period where the hosts switched off gave the Ligue 1 giants their victory and now makes the second-leg a huge task for the Red Devils.
Match Report
Manchester United: De Gea (7); Young (6), Lindelof (6), Bailly (6), Shaw (7); Matic (6), Herrera (6), Pogba (6); Lingard (6) (Sanchez (5), 45+4′), Martial (5) (Mata (6), 46′), Rashford (6) (Lukaku (N/A), 84′).
Paris Saint Germain: Buffon (7); Kehrer (7), Silva (8), Kimpembe (7), Bernat (7); Marquinhos (7), Verratti (7) (Paredes (6), 75′), Alves (7); Di Maria (8) (Dagba (N/A), 81′), Draxler (6), Mbappe (7).
Goals: Kimpembe (53′), Mbappe (60′)
Referee: Daniele Orsato
Yellow Cards: Kimpembe (11′), Draxler (19′), Pogba (26′, 89′), Young (30′), Bernat (34′), Lindelöf (50′), Dani Alves (62′), Herrera (87′), Shaw (90+2′)
Red Cards: Pogba (89′)
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