3️⃣ points as late heroics from Marcus Rashford see Man Utd beat PSG | OneFootball

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Alex Mott·20 October 2020

3️⃣ points as late heroics from Marcus Rashford see Man Utd beat PSG

Article image:3️⃣ points as late heroics from Marcus Rashford see Man Utd beat PSG

Marcus Rashford MBE scored a late winner as Manchester United beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the French capital.

A Bruno Fernandes penalty had given United the lead in the first half before Anthony Martial’s own goal levelled things up.


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But it was Rashford who was the hero again on the night, finishing brilliantly to give the English outfit a perfect start to their Champions League campaign.


Perfect start

Article image:3️⃣ points as late heroics from Marcus Rashford see Man Utd beat PSG

Up against last year’s finalists and without their captain this was, ultimately, a brilliant win for Manchester United.

As with the last time they played at the Parc des Princes, it was Marcus Rashford who was the hero in the dying moments, scoring a brilliant second from outside the area.

It’s difficult to know where this leaves United and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer though, for PSG played into their hands almost perfectly.

A desperately average midfield was overrun at times, with Idrissa Gueye being dragged at half-time and Ander Herrera showing exactly why the Red Devils got rid.

And they then left acres of room for Rashford and Anthony Martial to counter-attack at will.

That’s precisely how United have been successful in the past, and it got them the victory here this evening.

It’s almost as if PSG had not seen any of United’s victories from the past 18 months and just assumed that they would beat the English side, no matter what.

Instead, it was United who claimed the points and took a huge step to claiming a last 16 place come next year.


Bold selection

Article image:3️⃣ points as late heroics from Marcus Rashford see Man Utd beat PSG

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can be accused of many things, but being reserved with his team selection this evening was not one of them.

The Norwegian tactician has come in for a heap of criticism of late following their 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Tottenham and Mauricio Pochettino’s spectre being permanently camped at the feast.

But Solskjaer was brave tonight and opted to drop Paul Pogba from the starting XI and start Fred and Scott McTominay instead.

It was a move designed to help cover a Harry Maguire-less backline and in our opinion it was absolutely the right thing to do.

Pogba has been the weak link in this United side for far too long and was rightly dropped at Parc des Princes.

Instead, the Brazilian and the young Scotsman marshalled things brilliantly in the middle of the park and put a muzzle on PSG’s attacking midfielders.

Is this a blueprint going forward? Probably not, but as a gameplan for a one-off occasion, it was superb.


In the deep end

Article image:3️⃣ points as late heroics from Marcus Rashford see Man Utd beat PSG

As far as debuts go, it doesn’t really get much bigger.

A Champions League night against last season’s finalists, this was a huge test for Alex Telles and a huge leap of faith for Solskjaer.

The Portuguese defender passed his test with flying colours.

Telles was operating at left wing-back with United going with three central defenders following Harry Maguire’s absence, and it really did work a charm.

His positional play was superb throughout the 90 minutes, his awareness of where the PSG attackers were down his side was excellent and, for the first time in a long time, United have a proper set-piece specialist.

Telles’ corners were a thing of beauty, and although they didn’t score from one this evening, every single delivery hit its target and caused problems in the opposition penalty area.

He was probably United’s Man of the Match and laid claim to being one of the best deadline day signings in a while.