PSG prove too good for Manchester United and Paul Pogba is sent off
For Manchester United perhaps it was a reality check, a reminder of their various imperfections and how tough it can be at the elite level of European football. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has passed every other test with distinction. Not here, though. Outscored, outpassed and outsung – their night culminated with a red card for Paul Pogba and it will need something remarkable if they can save themselves in the return leg at Parc des Princes.
In reality, who can really see them pulling off that kind of feat of escapology on the evidence of this tie? Paris Saint-Germain took a while to realise they were the superior side but once they seized control, it must have been startling for Solskjaer to see the way his team lapsed into bad habits. If anything, PSG had enough chances to win even more convincingly, whereas it was difficult to remember a single moment when Gianluigi Buffon was seriously endangered. To describe United’s performance as six out of 10 would be generous.
Instead it was the first time in United’s long history of European competitions, going back to the 1956-57 season under Matt Busby, that they have lost a home game by more than one goal. Solskjaer sounded confident they will put in a much-improved performance when the sides renew acquaintances on 6 March. The same might apply to PSG bearing in mind Thomas Tuchel was visibly aggrieved by his team’s first-half display.
That, perhaps, is the scariest thought for the side who finished with 10 men: PSG, with 103 goals in 35 matches this season, can be even more dangerous at their own place, with the backing of their vociferous supporters.
The goals arrived in a sevenminute spell during a second half when Kylian Mbappé delivered the kind of performance that was beyond Marcus Rashford, one of several disappointing performers for the home team, and Ángel Di María reminded Old Trafford why there was once a time when United valued him highly enough to make him the club’s record signing.
Di María is not remembered fondly, as demonstrated by the sight of a plastic bottle landing near his feet in the second half, or the crowd’s malicious delight earlier in the match when Ashley Young sent him flying into the perimeter fence. Early on, Di María’s occasional carelessness must have reminded the home supporters about some of the Argentinian’s more undistinguished performances in United’s colours.
By the end, however, he had played a key role in both goals, swinging over the corner from which Presnel Kimpembe volleyed in the opening goal, then putting in the decisive pass for Mbappé to accelerate into a gap between Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelöf and score with a show of phenomenal speed and centre-forward awareness.
By that stage Mbappé had already demonstrated what everyone should probably have known anyway: that he would have no trouble out-sprinting either of United’s centre-halves, even when his opponents had a head start. Marquinhos had subdued Pogba with a brilliantly efficient man-marking role and United had lost Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard to injury, meaning the introduction of Alexis Sánchez and Juan Mata. That deprived United of the speed Solskjaer wants in wide attacking areas, although the truth is the two injured players had found it difficult to make any positive impact during their time on the pitch.
The most revealing statistic at half-time, with only five efforts at goal, was that no other game in this season’s Champions League had witnessed fewer first-half shots. Solskjaer must have dearly wanted an improvement but it was PSG who suddenly clicked and for the rest of the game the Ligue 1 leaders played as though affronted by the suggestion that the absence of Neymar and Edinson Cavani had to be a debilitating setback.
Perhaps they had a bit of good fortune, too, because a reasonable argument could be made that Kimpembe should not have been on the pitch for the opening goal, having been booked for one foul on Martial and putting in a couple of risky challenges on Lingard and Rashford that might have warranted a second yellow card.
In the 53rd minute, David de Gea turned Mbappé’s downward header round a post for a corner. Di María whipped the ball into the penalty area and Nemanja Matic, the nearest player to Kimpembe, seemed to think De Gea would come off his line to collect it. He didn’t – and Kimpembe’s volley flew into the roof of the net.
After that PSG went for the kill and on the hour-mark the ball went forward through Juan Bernat and Di María again. This time the attack had originated with Marquinhos dispossessing Pogba in the other half of the pitch. Di María’s delivery from the left was weighted perfectly and Mbappé’s acceleration did the rest, coupled with his utter determination to make sure he reached the ball ahead of Bailly and Lindelöf, then clipping a shot past De Gea without breaking stride.
For Solskjaer the most alarming part was United’s lack of creativity. This was the first time, perhaps surprisingly, Buffon has ever faced United at Old Trafford and the only troubling moment for the goalkeeper was an early kick that he misdirected out of play. Pogba, already booked from the first half, had been irritated by a foul from Dani Alves and the next time the ball came between the two players he went in studs-high. It was a challenge laced with frustration.
The referee, Daniele Orsato, reached for his yellow card on 10 separate occasions. Pogba’s were number three and nine and he will not be playing in Paris when, barring an incredible comeback, United’s participation in the Champions League will draw to a close.