Another Solskjaer special sees Man Utd seal quarter-final place as PSG crumble

If you had asked everyone with even a vague knowledge of the rules of football, few would have given Manchester United a chance of progressing to the Champions’ League Quarter-Final last night. Not only did they have a two-goal deficit to overturn, they would have to do so without several first-team players missing through injury and suspension and at a ground where PSG have been simply imperious, losing only one of their last 15 Champions League matches there – that too to the Champions League hat-trick completing Real Madrid.

United also had history to contend with. No side in European Cup history had ever progressed having lost the first-leg of a tie at home by two or more goals. Manchester United needed a miracle to progress.

Yet miracles have proven to be far more common of late – particularly in the Champions League. Solskjaer did not need to invoke the spirit of his own miraculous heroics in 1999 for an example to give to his players. Nor did he need to point to Roma and Juventus’s exploits from last season. Instead, the inspiration required was provided less than 24 hours before kick-off in Paris by a magnificent Ajax performance in the Bernebeu. Solskjaer admitted as much later on, saying in a television interview with BT Sport that “that [the Ajax performance] was my team talk. I’m sure it was theirs [PSG’s] as well.”

Not that they would have needed Ajax’s performance for a warning. Just two seasons ago, PSG were on the receiving end of perhaps the most incredible turnaround in Champions League history when, carrying a 4-0 advantage from the first leg, they capitulated against Barcelona and lost the second leg 6-1. History went on to repeat itself last night.

Within two minutes, Manchester United took the lead as Marcus Rashford’s pressing forced an error which provided a chance for Romelu Lukaku who kept his composure, rounded Gianluigi Buffon and gave Utd a dream start. Though PSG hit back ten minutes later through Juan Bernat, their play lacked the cutting edge to kill the tie off and promising positions did not materialise into substantial chances. An injury to Eric Bailly appeared to be a blessing in disguise for the side from Manchester as his vulnerability down Utd’s right-hand side was being exploited by PSG and his substitution saw some order restored in the United defence.

At the other end, there was little to report with Utd struggling to hold onto possession and creating no chances whatsoever. But when the dipping and swerving nature of a speculative Marcus Rashford effort from well outside the box was fumbled by Buffon, Lukaku was on hand to pounce and put the ball in the back of the net to give Utd the lead going into half-time. With two goals from three shots in a half where they had not played particularly well, Solskjaer would have felt more than hopeful that his side would have a chance of progressing.

The second-half saw much of the same as the first; Utd defending in numbers, looking to hit PSG on the break and PSG enjoying large amounts of the ball but lacking the clinical penetration to finish the game off. For all of their possession, in the entire second-half, PSG created only two clear chances to put the tie to bed. The first saw a cheeky Di Maria chip go beyond David De Gea and into the net after a wonderful flick from Kylian Mbappe, only for it to be correctly ruled out for offside. The second saw Mbappe race through on goal but, unlike Lukaku, the Frenchman was unable to round the goalkeeper and was instead held up. When the ball squirted out to Angel Di Maria, he was only able to hit the post and the chance was gone.

After 80 minutes had been played and with United needing a goal, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer introduced the young Tahith Chong into his forward line. Not long after, Mason Greenwood also came on to make his first-team debut and to make history by becoming the youngest Manchester United player to play in the Champions League. In the moments that followed, Greenwood became part of another piece of history. Completely free on the right-hand side in a rare United attack, Greenwood must have been frustrated that Diogo Dalot opted to shoot from an improbable distance instead of picking him out. But that frustration would soon turn to elation as the VAR (Video Assistant Referee) suggested that Dalot’s shot had struck PSG defender Presnel Kimpembe on the arm. The referee promptly went over to the screen, reviewed the footage and pointed to the spot.

Marcus Rashford coolly despatched the penalty and Utd held on for a nervy four minutes to seal a place in history.

This result is just the latest in a series of excellent wins under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and it is difficult to see how the Norwegian will not go on to get the job permanently.

Contrastingly, for PSG, this result is the latest in a series of failed attempts to reach the latter stages of this competition and the all-too-familiar throwing away of a golden position does not good whatsoever for a group of players assigned – and desperate to get rid of – the ‘bottlers’ tag.