MARCUS THE ICE MAN!
Staggering victory for Solskjaer’s heroes as Rashford nets last-gasp VAR penalty
Marcus rashford had never taken a penalty for Manchester united before. Think about that for a second.
He’s 21. It is added time in a champions League knockout match, with victory in the balance. against him is Gianluigi Buffon, one of the greatest, most experienced goalkeepers the game will ever see. and 50,000 or so Parisians, give or take.
If he scores, this will be one of the greatest comebacks in European history. If he misses, there will be no hiding place. and, beside him is a £75million striker, almost five years older and on a hat-trick: romelu Lukaku. Yet rashford is taking it. Think about that for a second. In these moments, he looks so young, standing over the ball, glancing up, assessing Buffon, veteran of so many shootouts, so much sudden death. He should have been fazed. Was he fazed? Was he heck.
rashford walked back ready for a long run, curved it, took a few short steps, took a few long ones, took an almighty shot into the roof of the net to propel Manchester united into the champions League quarterfinals, Buffon nowhere.
He left Paris saint- Germain’s players sprawled on the turf, spent, broken — Neymar impotently furious on the bench. What a player rashford is.
We have seen scenes like this before, of course, and we all remember when. Bayern Munich at the Nou camp, 1999. and we know the common denominator, too. He was here on the bench, in a gold bib, because UEFA thought his top clashed too much with PSG’S colours.
Ole Gunnar solskjaer. Thee second coming. They were singing his name long into the night, the travellers; and no wonder. This was not just a win, itt was a win thatat rewrote the recordord books, one that was achieved with a shadow of the team thatat united could field. It was a win that was never meant to happen and yet that could be said of a lot of the greatest events in solskjaer’s career.
so just give it to him. Not because united won, not because they set records, or are the first team to overturn a 2-0 first leg deficit at home in this competition, not even because they beat one of the greatest teams in Europe with a weakened XI.
He’s sir alex Ferguson 2.0. Haven’t you noticed? Only one man might have progressed in this situation, and with such incredible drama. Ferguson’s narratives were second to none and solskjaerja is his direct descendant. On nights like this it all makes sense. Of course the match-winner in the Nou camp should be the architect of a victory achieved in such astonishing circumstances. There was a minute remaining when Diogo Dalot tried a shot from range which struck PSG defender Presnel Kimpembe. It looked innocuous enough, certainly there were no widespread appeals or even cries from the away end. Dalot signalled for a handball, but it was considered to be in desperation. referee Damir skomina must have heard voices in his head, however — because suddenly he was signalling for the Var. Off he went, back he came — and united had the most incredible lifeline. They looked to have done everything but progress until then, but suddenly, here it was. The golden ticket. ‘Ooh-ah, Var,’ sang the away end, although the locals weren’t seeing the joke.
It has been milestone after milestone for solskjaer in his brief reign and last night another two club records tumbled. The most consecutive away wins by a united team — nine — overtaking a record run from the Ferguson years. and the most consecutive away games in which they have scored — 21, beating a sequence between November 1956 and september 1957 under sir Matt Busby.
Jose Mourinho is part of that second record, mind, but not the first. It begins with solskjaer’s win in cardiff. remember when it was considered he had it easy? since then he was won at arsenal, Tottenham, chelsea, PSG — and drawn with Liverpool at home. and while united undoubtedly rode their luck in Paris — certainly in the first half when the home side could have had the tie won — just to limit this team to a single goal was a mighty achievement. Only one team has done that in PSG’s last seven home games — but Bordeaux couldn’t score.
united could, three times. and, yes, sometimes a result defies all logic, as it did here. Having been so thoroughly outplayed by PSG with a far stronger starting XI in the first leg, few gave united a prayer in Paris. They were missing the best part of their best team and had not so much a substitutes bench as a creche. Many of the players solskjaer kept in reserve probably had to travel with their documents encased in plastic and hung around their necks, accompanied on to the plane by flight attendants. and yet, when half-time came they were leading 2-1.
How? Good fortune, mainly. The tactical masterstroke was yet to come, when solskjaer stifled PSG by switching to 4-5-1 and deployed ashley Young and Dalot almost as double full backs on the right. First half, they simply got away with it. united were murdered, particularly down that flank where makeshift right back Eric Bailly endured a torrid time. Ps G were, in spells, simply irresistible. as the clock ticked towards 15 minutes they were at 92 per cent possession.
Yet somehow, united led, lost that lead, then led again. PSG found ways to concede and were never in front in the entire match. Maybe, like real Madrid 24 hours earlier, they thought they had the game won before kick- off. Maybe, like the rest of us, they took account of the lead and united’s absentees and concluded it was in the bag. Lukaku disavowed them of that illusion after two minutes — or rather Thilo Kehrer did.
after PSG spent the opening minutes knocking the ball about as if engaged in a training exercise — and not a greatly energised one — it was his dreadful back pass that allowed united’s striker to run on goal, slipping the ball past Buffon as he scurried from his line in a desperate attempt to avoid calamity. The damage was done, however, though for the next 28 minutes or so PSG dominated.
Bailly was giving Kehrer a run for his money as the worst right back on the field and, when Kylian Mbappe is around, every error, every moment of uncertainty is potentially fatal. For PSG’s equaliser, Mbappe capitalised on a moment of hesitation on the flank from Luke shaw, hitting a deep cross which was met by Juan Bernat, moving past Bailly who appeared mysti--
fyingly unaware of the danger. in the period that followed the tie could have been lost. Dani Alves, Bernat and Angel di Maria all came close, before the strangest thing happened. PSG conceded again.
rashford hit an ambitious shot from 30 yards which, frankly, wasn’t up to much and for that reason ended up pitching on the skiddy surface — the visitors having brought the weather with them — directly in front of Buffon. He must have seen a thousand like it but this one he spilled — and Lukaku was on hand to score again.
United’s luck continued. in the 35th minute, Bailly, who had taken a knock a little earlier, felt unable to continue and was replaced by Dalot. That changed the game. PSG threatened only once after, when Bernat hit a post. it was a fabulous team display. At the end, Manchester United’s players ran towards their fans in celebration. Chris Smalling kicked the match ball towards the away end, and it missed.
This is the group Solskjaer steered past PSG and a two- goal start. Seriously, what is keeping them?