Ambitious Manchester United Overturns Odds at Parc de Princes, Defeats PSG

Manchester United beat PSG 3-1 at the Parc De Princes to progress on away goals after a controversial VAR penalty was awarded in the closing minutes. This feisty encounter between two of Europe’s biggest football clubs began with the away side applying pressure to break what looked like a pretty solid PSG defence.

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Manchester United had more of the ball in the early knockings and it was beginning to look like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s idea for this crucial Champions League encounter was going as planned and they made the most of their early superiority by getting the opening goal of the game.
A weak and careless back pass toward Gigi Buffon in the PSG goal was cleverly intercepted by Romelu Lukaku who worked the ball into the box well before rounding Buffon. He almost ran it out but barely put it in the net with a sliding effort from an acute angle.

With the pressure now on the home side, they began to have a bigger say on the pace of the game. Using Marco Verrati and Julian Draxler in the midfield, they began to find gaps in the United defence with Kylian Mbappe’s dangerous runs being a constant threat.

This pressure soon paid off when some patient play down the left found Mbappe clean through in the box. He cut the ball back expertly and found Juan Bernat rushing down the left flank, who tucked it in comfortably to restore parity for the Parisians.

This didn’t demoralise United though as the Red Devils kept pushing to try and find another goal which would bring them closer to qualification to the next round. They did get this goal before half-time as well through their Belgian forward yet again.

Out of nothing, some short passes in the midfield found Marcus Rashford, who decided to hit it from over 25 yards out. His shot was venomous and it caught Buffon off guard. The Italian spilled the ball and Lukaku was on the follow up to make it 2-1 to the away side.

With the start of the second half, the match began to get cagey as tactical battles started to come into play. Neither team was able to get a real grip on the game and despite United’s best efforts, they weren’t able to create any clear chances early on.

As the game wore on, United began to push more and more into the attacking third but to no real effect. While PSG were pushing bodies forward as well, despite Mbappe’s presence up front, they never looked a real threat in the second period.

The game was beginning to look like it was headed for the 2-1 result until the final minute when a crucial decision was made with the use of VAR that turned the contest around it’s neck.

A shot from outside the box hit Presnel Kimpembe on the arm and although he was facing the goal at the time of contact, upon further verification with the VAR, United were granted a penalty in the 93rd minute.

Marcus Rashford stepped up to upset Buffon for yet another year and sent PSG crashing out of the Champions League.

With a 3-1 scoreline in the away leg, Manchester United made the aggregate score 3-3 and because of the away goals rule, they overcame PSG in their own yard to move to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Here’s how some Man United fans reacted to this incredible win:

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