There have been a multitude of special nights in the UEFA Champions League over the years, which is what makes it one of the most exciting competitions in the world. We’ve seen world class performances, dramatic comebacks and everything in between. Now, we can add another chapter to the UCL’s story after Manchester United came back from a 2-0 deficit tonight to defeat Paris Saint-Germain and progress into the quarter finals.
Firing back
Tonight felt like United fans had their club back, and the supporters themselves are saying as much. Nobody really gave them a chance after they lost the first leg 2-0, but they kept their belief system in place – even after a questionable team selection from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The visitors got off to the perfect start thanks to Romelu Lukaku, who put in one of his best performances ever in a Manchester United shirt. He managed to take advantage of an error at the back to open the scoring, but the joy didn’t last long as Kylian Mbappe played a nice ball into Juan Bernat who restored PSG’s two goal advantage.
The miracle
The home side began to dominate proceedings to the point where it seemed like United’s hopes were fading, and then, a rare mistake from Gianluigi Buffon opened the door for Lukaku to score his second of the game. Despite being just one goal away from taking control of the tie it still felt like United were on the back foot, with the French champions desperately trying to kill off the game.
Then, in the final few minutes of the encounter, Dalot’s effort hit the arm of Kimpembe – and after a review from VAR, a penalty was awarded. Marcus Rashford was forced to wait quite some time before taking, but when he did, he was as cool as a cucumber as he fired the Red Devils into the last eight.
United will now await the draw for the quarter finals, and given how they were able to get past PSG, there’s no reason for them to be afraid of any of the teams that remain in the competition.
Match Report
PSG: Buffon (5), Kimpembe (5.5), Silva (6.5), Kehrer (5), Bernat (8.5), Verratti (6.5), Marquinhos (6.5), Alves (6.5), Di Maria (7), Draxler (6.5), Mbappe (6.5), Cavani (6), Meunier (6.5), Paredes (6)
Manchester United: De Gea (7), Bailly (6.5), Smalling (7.5), Lindelof (6.5), Shaw (7), Young (6.5), McTominay (7), Fred (7), Pereira (6.5), Lukaku (9), Rashford (7.5), Greenwood (6), Dalot (6.5), Chong (6)
Referee: Damir Skomina
Goals: Bernat :: Lukaku x2, Rashford
Yellow Cards: Paredes, Di Maria, Shaw
Red Cards: N/A
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