Marcus Rashford took it, driving the ball high into the net and the United bench exploded – it felt just like 1999. It really did. PSG were stunned. The world was stunned. Marcus Rashford's last-gasp penalty sent Manchester United into the Champions League quarter-finals.
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| Romelu Lukaku scored twice in the first half |
VAR-awarded stoppage-time penalty fired Manchester United into the Champions League quarter-finals on away goals after a sensational 3-1 victory (3-3 on agg) stunned Paris Saint-Germain.
Presnel Kimpembe was penalised for handball in the final minute as referee Damir Skomina ruled he had blocked Diogo Dalot's shot with his arm, and Rashford held his nerve to hammer his first penalty for the club home to seal one of the most remarkable European results in United's history.
Romelu Lukaku's first-half double had given United hope of overturning PSG's two-goal first-leg lead but they looked set to narrowly miss out as Juan Bernat's strike in between the Belgian's efforts had Ligue 1 champions in front on aggregate and in control.
But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's injury-plagued side - which featured youngsters Mason Greenwood and Tahith Chong in the closing stages - roared back in the most dramatic fashion to become the first side in Champions League history to win a tie after losing the first leg at home by two or more goals.
There were then four minutes of added time. It felt like an eternity with PSG reacting with fury after the award which seemed harsh. Sure Presnel Kimpembe blocked Diogo Dalot’s shot which hit his elbow but the defender had turned his back. Even so after consulting with the VAR on the side of the pitch referee Damir Skomina gave the penalty.
Player ratings
PSG: Buffon (5), Kehrer (4), Silva (7), Kimpembe (5), Bernat (7), Verratti (7), Marquinhos (6), Dani Alves (6), Draxler (6), Di Maria (7), Mbappe (6).
Subs: Paredes (5), Meunier (6), Cavani (n/a).
Man Utd: De Gea (8), Young (8), Bailly (4), Smalling (8), Lindelof (7), Shaw (8), McTominay (8), Fred (7), Pereira (7), Rashford (9), Lukaku (9).
Subs: Dalot (7), Chong (6), Greenwood (5).
No fewer than 106 times has a team unsuccessfully previously tried to overcome a 2-0 deficit from the first leg of a Champions League tie. There will not be a 107th.
That United, severely depleted, without 10 players, did this is quite extraordinary and a glowing testimony to the spirit that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has brought to them.
This was about courage and heart and believing that, as Solskjaer said, there is never a mission impossible. This was simply heroic. It was about resolve and determination. And sheer, bloody-minded guts.
It has already been said that Solskjaer is bringing something of the old United back and this was further compelling evidence delivered by him. The players sprinted to the 2,000 United fans at the final whistle as every PSG player slumped on the turf.
It was a remarkable first-half. United were dominated, utterly dominated with the statistics at one point showing they had just 13 per cent of possession and had completed only 25 passes while PSG had racked up 256.
There was also the exposure of Eric Bailly at right-back, where he seemed lost, constantly drawn in-field, leaving space outside him which was exploited. Until, after 36 minutes, Solskjaer rectified his glaring mistake by taking Bailly off and bringing Diogo Dalot on in his 4-4-2 formation. Bailly was limping but the injury appeared to be wounded pride. It was a bad, bad night for him.
But, by then, United had scored twice. In between PSG had taken them apart but both United goals were gifts, gleefully snapped up by a resurgent Romelu Lukaku with the second changing the dynamic. Soon after it Marcus Rashford ran on to an Ashley Young free-kick and shot narrowly wide and Dalot tricked his way into the penalty area and tried to cross when he had to shoot. Even then Buffon did well to hold onto the ball as Marquinhos diverted it goalwards. That would have given United the third goal they needed even before the half-time whistle had been blown.
Both coaches had stressed the importance, the vital need to score the first goal and to hopefully score it early and, gloriously, it was United who claimed it. Not so glorious, though, for PSG or for their right-back Thilo Kehrer who, under pressure, tried to play the ball back to captain Thiago Silva without looking. It was over-hit and ran past Silva to Lukaku who sprinted clear on goal and appeared to over-run the chance as he skirted Gianluigi Buffon but managed to stretch and find the net. Game on.
PSG had tried to take control but had been undone; undone by themselves with United handed a route back into this tie. But the French champions soon applied the pressure. Kylian Mbappe twice came close to drawing them level with United dropping ever deeper until the 20-year-old’s movement undid them.
He peeled away to run onto Dani Alves’ pass and whipped a low ball across the United six-yard area for Juan Bernat to run in and turn past David De Gea beyond the far post.
Bailly was nowhere to be seen and was at fault again when he allowed himself to drift in-field, showing again he is a central defender, leaving Bernat unmarked. The full-back was picked out by Angel Di Maria and drove a powerful shot that De Gea did well to beat away.
PSG’s right-back Kehrer was not faring much better than Bailly and he slipped to allow Marcus Rashford to run on – and send a low shot past Buffon’s post when, maybe, he should have crossed. It encouraged United and they attacked again with Rashford firing the ball in from 25 yards. It seemed routine for Buffon, except it bounced in front of him and rebounded off his chest for Lukaku to ran in and tuck home. Improbably United had restored their lead.
Opta stats
- Manchester United became the first team in Champions League history to qualify for the next round having lost the first leg of a knockout match at home by two or more goals.
- PSG conceded with three of the four shots on target they faced in this game and have been eliminated at the last 16 stage in each of the last three Champions League seasons.
- Romelu Lukaku's first goal after 111 seconds was Man Utd's fastest in a Champions League knockout match since Wayne Rooney scored after 63 seconds against Bayern Munich in March 2010.
- Marcus Rashford's winning penalty was the first he has ever taken in a competitive match for Manchester United.PSG have lost seven of their last 12 Champions League knockout matches (W4 D1), including each of their last two at the Parc des Princes.
- Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first match in charge on December 22nd, only Manchester City (15) have won more matches in all competitions than Man Utd (14) among teams in the top five European leagues.
- Manchester United have now scored in 21 consecutive away matches in all competitions, equalling the club record set between November 1956 and September 1957 under Sir Matt Busby.
- Mason Greenwood became the youngest player to appear for Manchester United in the Champions League, aged 17 years and 156 days, breaking the record held by Gerard Pique (17y 310d).
Given the absentees, the roll call of players Solksjaer was denied – including his first-choice midfield – it was astonishing that they went into the second-half ahead and needing a single, unanswered goal to go through. It was all to play for and that is all he could ask for.
It was also the first time PSG had conceded two goals at home in the opening 45 minutes of a Champions League match since 1997 and they began to build their dominance again. Di Maria dinked the ball into the net after running onto a superb reverse pass by Mbappe – was rightly pulled up for offside – with the only respite for United coming when Lukaku went down injured.
Solskjaer used the time to deliver instructions, scribbled on a piece of paper to his captain, Young and Rashford. The rain was unrelenting and so were PSG while Scott McTominay – whose commitment was unending – and Marquinhos clashed by the touchline. The free-kick counted increased; another sign that United were being stretched and stretched again. But would they break? They also needed another goal but were holding on in there; trying to counter.
Instead Mbappe broke through, running onto Di Maria’s pass, only to stumble with Smalling poking the ball away. It fell to Bernat who slammed it against the base of the post from a tight angle.
United scored through their penalty and then PSG in desperation poured forward with De Gea saving and then demands for their own penalty. They were waved away and United are through to the last eight.
The managers
Thomas Tuchel:
If you have an opponent who is clearly better than you, then OK, you have something to analyse. If it was a league game you can wipe your mouth and go. But today it is horrible, and we didn't deserve to go out over 180 minutes. It's a big disappointment."
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer:
"We always believed. The plan wasn't about having the ball and out playing them, if you give this team too much space and time they can hurt you. You saw a couple of times in the first half when we missed out defensive shape. The plan was to be in the game with five minutes to go and it worked."
Man of the Match - Romelu Lukaku
The victory simply would not have been possible without Lukaku's opportunism. He pounced on Kehrer's poor backpass to put United into an early lead and then reacted fastest to punish Buffon's howler. After struggling at the start Solskjaer's tenure, this performance saw Lukaku further silence his critics as he scored more than one goal in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.
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