Match: Manchester United vs PSG.
Venue: Old Trafford
Half-time Scoreline: 1-1
Full-time Scoreline: 1-3 (PSG Won over Manchester United).
Manchester United welcomed Paris Saint Germain to the Old Trafford for the second leg tie of the UEFA Champions League group H campaign tonight, December 2, 2020. The first leg of the tie which was played on 20 October 2020, ended 1-2 in favor of Manchester United despite playing in PSG’s Parc des Princes.
Tonight’s encounter was expected to be a make or mar game for the French Ligue 1 champions that have been having it rough in the competition and they didn’t disappoint as they won the tie 1-3.
Before they met Manchester United in the Champions League group H match tonight, they have suffered 2 defeats in the competition and enjoyed just two wins.
The inconsistency of PSG in the competition forced the club to visit Old Trafford as the 3rd placed team in the group with just 6 points in 4 Champions League games.
In the just-concluded 5th Champions League group H game between Manchester United vs PSG, the French club started like a house on fire and forced Manchester United to concede a very early goal.
The usual suspects for PSG, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar combined well to get through Manchester United’s defense before Mbappe tried a shot on goal which was blocked by United’s defense.
Neymar who was in United’s box-eighteen was fast enough to pick up the free ball and stylishly fire it into United’s net in the 6th minute to give the visitors an early lead.
Though Paris Saint Germain continued to play like a team that wanted it the most after Neymar’s goal, Manchester United’s forward Marcus Rashford, stepped up to save United in the 32nd minute of the match.
Rashford was assisted by United’s Wan-Bissaka but his shot on goal was helped into PSG’s net by a player of the French club, Danilo, whose leg was at the wrong place at the right time for United’s equalizer.
At the end of the first half, PSG enjoyed 55 percent of the possession as against United’s 45 percent. The visitors had 6 shots, three of which were on target while the host also had 6 shots but four of the shots were on target.
In the second half of the match, Manchester United came out hotter than they started the match. In the space of a few minutes, United’s Antony Martial bullied a goal-scoring opportunity over the bar.
In the 57th minute of the match, Edison Cavani came very close to scoring but his effort ended on the bar. Bruno Fernandes picked up the rebound and tried to hit the target but his shot was blocked by PSG’s defense.
PSG also had their share of goalscoring opportunities especially in the 64th minute of the match when Neymar skillfully opened the defense of United but Marquinhos was unable to head in the ball when he was called to duty.
PSG finally got their way in the 69th minute when Marquinhos scored from a close range to put PSG ahead for the second time in the match.
🔥 Our captain, @marquinhos_m5 ⚽️#MUPSG pic.twitter.com/sdWXBtZp8c
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) December 2, 2020
Things got bad for United in the 70th minute when Fred received his second yellow card of the match and had to be red-carded. It got even worse when Rashford had to make way for Paul Pogba in the 74th minute because he was struggling with a shoulder injury.
Neymar sealed the victory for Paris Saint Germain in the additional 1 minute of the game to leave Manchester with a 1-3 victory. The win has taken PSG to the top of the group H table with 9 points in 5 games. Though they have the same points as Manchester United, they are ahead of the Premier League club due to superior head-to-head.
