PSG dent Man United’s knockout aspirations
Manchester United blew the chance to seal progress to the Champions League knockout phase as Fred was sent off in a 3-2 defeat to last season’s finalists Paris Saint-Germain.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s players knew they would go through to the last 16 if they avoided defeat yesterday at Old Trafford and they looked set to do that after Marcus Rashford cancelled out Neymar’s early stunner.
However, Marquinhos and Neymar goals either side of Fred’s belated sending off gave the visitors the three points.
The result means the top three in group H are all level on nine points heading into the final fixtures, with the Red Devils knowing a point next week at Leipzig — who snatched a thrilling 4-3 win at Istanbul Basaksehir – will see them progress.
Fred somehow avoided a red card, despite the referee reviewing an incident in which the Brazilian appeared to headbutt Leandro Paredes midway through the first half but was later, perhaps harshly, sent off for a sliding tackle in which he got to the ball first.
Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 750th goal of his career in a 3-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv, as Stephanie Frappart became the first female referee to take charge of a Champions League match.
Juventus are second in group G three points behind Barcelona, who rested Lionel Messi but still outclassed Ferencvaros 3-0. Barca next host Juve in a battle for top spot.
Olivier Giroud completed a perfect hat-trick
and then fired a penalty to boot as Chelsea thrashed Sevilla 4-0 to win group E with a game to spare.
Giroud delivered left-foot, right-foot and headed finishes for the perfect treble — and then whipped a spot-kick into the top corner for good measure.
Sevilla go through to the knockout stage alongside the Blues while Russian side Krasnodar booked their Europa League spot with their maiden win in the Champions League – 1-0 over Rennes thanks to Marcus Berg’s 71st-minute effort.
Borussia Dortmund guaranteed their progression to the last-16 from group F — despite being without injured star striker Erling Haaland — with a 1-1 draw against Lazio. Club Brugge will vie with Lazio for the second qualification spot after brushing aside Zenit St Petersburg 3-0. –