MAN UTD 0 PSG 2
Kimpembe and Mbappe bring Solskjaer and Man Utd down to earth in hot-tempered clash with Pogba getting sent-off
CHEERS for Di beers.
Angel Di Maria, pretending to take a swig from a bottle of Heineken down by the corner flag, left Manchester United legless.
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When Ashley Young sent him sprawling into the metal barriers on the side of the pitch, Di Maria responded with a match-winning performance.
This was his night.
He operated on a different level, setting up Presnel Kimbempe’s peachy opener and finding Kylian Mbappe for the second.
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PSG, the first team to win by more than one goal on a European night at Old Trafford, are in full control of this tie.
United are not good enough, not wise enough, not streetwise enough to score three without reply inside Parc des Princes.
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They will be without Paul Pogba for the second leg, left at home after being sent off for a second booking. Silly boy.
United lost their composure, the characteristics that put the on a hot streak of 10-1 under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
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The brutal manner of this defeat, the first of Solskjaer’s reign, will be felt throughout the club.
He looked wet behind the ears.
The true test of a coach is at the highest level of the sport, when stakes are high and tensions are almost unbearable.
Thomas Tuchel, animated and energetic on the edge of the technical area, dished out a masterclass.
PSG soaked up the predictable pressure in the opening 20 minutes and went on to boss the rest of this game.
United looked naïve, relying on the old Sir Alex Ferguson mentality of throwing bodies forward in search of goals.
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PSG are too canny, too clever, too experienced to get caught out by those primitive tactics.
Even without Neymar and Edinson Cavani, the French champions were far too good.
Mbappe, denied a second when David De Gea flung out his right hand, was outstanding.
Had that gone in, PSG could have finished up with the sort of scoreline Manchester City finished up with against Chelsea last weekend.
The European stage demands a different way to play, with tactical nuances and patience playing such a big part in knockout football.
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It is the thinking man’s game.
United were outthought and outfought, struggling to make an impact after Marcus Rashford’s early chance was hit straight at Gianluigi Buffon.
After that, the kid barely got a kick.
PSG took the sting out of it, quietening the Stretford End and responding to their thirsty fans in a corner of the old Scoreboard End.
This was a fiery first leg, a busy night for the prissy Italian referee Daniele Orsato.
If it moved, he booked it.
Marquinhos escaped for a tactical foul two minutes in for a tactical foul when he dragged back Jesse Lingard.
Kimpembe did Marcus Rashford. Booked. Julian Draxler followed. Pogba was cautioned for leaving a trailing leg. Ashley Young took out Mbappe. Booked. Juan Bernat served up revenge.
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Pogba was eventually sent off a minute from time, booked again when he left his studs in Dani Alves right leg.
By then they were beaten men.
Di Maria served up a first half warning when long-range effort drifted away from de Gea’s left upright.
They had another crack at it before the break, with Julian Draxler’s clever, improvised through ball catching United’s defence flat-footed.
Mbappe escaped his markers, finding space inside the area before sliding his chance wide of the United goal.
It was coming.
Solskjaer was forced into a reshuffle, with Lingard replaced by Alexis Sanchez just before the break and Juan Mata sent on for Anthony Martial at half-time.
United needed to adjust. Fast.
PSG controlled the tempo at the start of the second half, playing the ball about as if they owned the place.
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There was an air of menace about Di Maria.
His reward for this energetic performance was the opening goal, volleyed masterfully beyond de Gea by Kimpembe.
It all started when United’s keeper tipped Mbappe’s towering header away for a corner around his left-hand post.
Di Maria took the set-piece, arcing it towards the danger area at the back stick.
Nemanja Matic went walkabout and Kimpembe followed the flight of the cross to put PSG in front.
Solskjaer launched himself from his seat, screaming at his players to reset and respond.
Instead, Manchester United malfunctioned.
They were 2-0 down after an hour, conceding again when that powerhouse Mbappe accelerated beyond United’s defence.
He timed his run perfectly, waiting for Thilo Kehrer to release Di Maria down the left.
Then he put the after-burners on, racing cleanly past United’s defence to tuck away Di Maria’s beautifully-placed cross.
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PSG looked the part out there.
Mbappe was exceptional at times, a threat whenever those legs started running at United’s petrified defence.
This was another eye-catching display from the World Cup winner, but the supply line came off the wing.
He is the toast of Paris after this, with their riotous fans raising a glass in his honour.
After this, Solskjaer is drinking in the last chance saloon.
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