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Marcus Rashford was the late, late hero in Paris once again, as United deservedly beat an extremely poor PSG

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Tue 20 Oct 2020 17.26 EDTFirst published on Tue 20 Oct 2020 13.30 EDT
Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring their second goal.
Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring the winner. Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring the winner. Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

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A word with a deservedly content Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who did a number on Thomas Tuchel this evening. “It’s a different feel, the start of the group stage, the last time was a knockout. But we win against a fantastic team. The euphoria was different, there are no fans here to celebrate. But I think we deserved to win. When you go away against a team like this, against players like Neymar and Mbappe, we know we have to defend well, that David will have to make a few saves. We know Axel’s qualities. His first game in ten months is testament to the character he has. Bruno showed character again. It could hardly go worse, two misses in a row! We probably need ten points, and we have three, so the next game against Leipzig will be very important. But we have Chelsea and Arsenal after, we have so many games, and I am very happy I have so many good players to pick from.”

The match-winner Marcus Rashford speaks. “It’s a nice feeling. We’re in a stronger position now, but it’s the first game, and we have to take the concentration and intensity into the next game and the Premier League. It’s a good performance, and we have a lot to build on. I always believe in team and the system the manager chooses. Today we did that. When we defend like that, man to man, we can do great things. The intensity was key for us. We’re very happy today.”

A perfect start in Group H for Manchester United. All smiles despite the Parisian heavens opening above. They celebrate their deserved victory, soaked to the skin. Last season’s runners-up trudge off after a limp, miserable display. United are second in the early Group H standings; Leipzig are first, having beaten Istanbul Basaksehir 2-0 thanks to a couple of quickfire first-half goals from Angelino.

90 min +2: This will be PSG’s first group-stage home defeat since CSKA Moscow won here in December 2004. United are about to bring a 24-game unbeaten run to an end.

90 min +1: The first of three added minutes goes by with United running down the clock in PSG territory.

88 min: United deserve this. They’ve been the better team. United send on James and Van de Beek to replace Martial and Fernandes.

GOAL! PSG 1-2 Manchester United (Rashford 87)

What a finish this is! Rashford, who put PSG to the sword in March 2019, has done it again! He’s fed by Pogba, just to the right of centre. He spins around Sarabia, breezing past him with ease, and creams a diagonal daisycutter into the bottom corner!

Rashford scores United’s second goal. Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
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86 min: From the corner, McTominay nearly gets a shot away. But he doesn’t connect while spinning amid a melee, and the hosts clear.

85 min: Pogba wanders in from the left and has a dig that’s deflected away for a corner on the right. Before the set piece can be taken, PSG make a couple more changes, Sarabia and Bakker coming on for Di Maria and Kurzawa.

83 min: Neymar advances towards the United box with extreme prejudice ... but his fierce shot is straight at De Gea, who parries with a strong arm. Up the other end, Martial drives down the left and nearly skips past Danilo, but a perfectly timed tackle puts a stop to his gallop.

82 min: Neymar sends Di Maria into acres down the left. Di Maria’s cross is no good, an easy clearance for Pogba. Rafinha tries to launch a second wave of attack, but simply hoicks the ball straight out for a goal kick.

80 min: Rashford slips Fernandes away down the right. Fernandes could shoot, upon entering the box, but selflessly cuts back for Rashford instead. Rashford’s shot is blocked by a combination of Navas and Diallo. PSG hack clear. United have had their chances tonight.

78 min: Rashford works his way down the right and drifts inside, teeing up Fernandes who drags a poor shot wide left. He had time and space to do better.

77 min: Martial and Pogba nearly open PSG up with a brisk one-two down the inside-left, but Martial can’t get onto the return and instead brings down Diallo. Cute move, though.

75 min: Florenzi curls in from the right. Kean has a free header, 12 yards out, but can’t get anything on target. The cross deserved better.

74 min: Mbappe tears after a long pass down the middle. For a second, it looks as though he’ll reach the ball in the box; if he does, he’ll be one on one with De Gea. But once again Tuanzebe holds firm. Mbappe goes over, demanding a penalty he’s not getting. Tuanzebe, thrown into the team during an injury crisis, has been excellent tonight against one of the biggest names in the world.

72 min: Tuanzebe is booked for ... well, not very much, leaning into the back of Mbappe as the pair engaged in aerial battle.

71 min: A lot of off-target passes being made right now, by both teams. Bayern Munich won’t be worried about relinquishing their title quite yet.

69 min: Rashford drops a shoulder to make himself a little space. Smart, patient play. He fizzes a low shot towards the bottom left. Navas fingertips the ball around the post for a corner that leads to nowt.

Rashford shoots. Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
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65 min: Kurzawa is released into the United box on the left. He’s got Mbappe and Neymar in the middle, waiting to slapshot home, but his low cross is blocked by Shaw. Excellent defending, though he should never have been given the chance to stop the cross. PSG are beginning to find routes through the United defence now.

64 min: Kean and Neymar cause a little bother on the edge of the United box. From the resulting corner, Di Maria sends a screamer into the Seine. PSG have been much better since the break.

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62 min: McTominay gives Herrara a good old boot in the coccyx. Ooyah, oof. Herrera’s in plenty of pain, but is good to go again when the sting subsides.

60 min: Good luck predicting who’ll score next. Now Kean makes good down the inside left, and is about to pull the trigger in the box when Wan-Bissaka pokes the ball away from him. Kean goes over, and several PSG players - plus Tuchel on the bench - claim a penalty, but the referee, correctly, shows no interest whatsoever.

59 min: The corner, from the right, ends up with Shaw on the left. He curls in for Martial, who blasts a header over from six yards. He should at least have made the keeper work.

58 min: Or maybe the best form of defence is attack. Rashford diddles Kimpembe with a clever turn, and he tears towards the PSG box. He’s about to pull the trigger when Danilo slides in to concede a corner.

57 min: PSG’s tails are suddenly up. Pretty much from the restart, Neymar drives down the middle and is only crowded out on the edge of the box. Then Di Maria dinks cleverly down the middle for Mbappe, who takes the ball down from over his shoulder and shoots low. Wan-Bissaka slides in to make an outstanding block. The resulting corner leads to nothing. All of a sudden, United need to hang on here.

Mbappe, tackled by Wan-Bissaka. Photograph: Yoan Valat/EPA
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GOAL! PSG 1-1 Manchester United (Martial og 55)

Neymar whips the corner to the near post. Martial rises highest, and plants a header across De Gea and into the top right! What an absurd own goal. A gift for PSG.

Martial scores an own goal. Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
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54 min: PSG hit the woodwork, but more through chance than design. Kurzawa chips from a tight angle on the left, the ball swerving in the air and dinking off the top of the bar. United get it half away. Mbappe drives down the left and wins a corner. From which ...

53 min: PSG are very slow and ponderous, United comfortable sitting back and holding their shape. “As United’s kit uses a naval pattern camouflage, it would work best against opponents who are all at sea,” begins Robin Hazlehurst, and you know where this is going. “No coincidence that they chose to wear it tonight?”

51 min: Martial forces a corner down the left. PSG make a meal of clearing, allowing Lindelof to take a whack from the edge of the box. His effort dribbles through to Navas.

49 min: Nothing comes of the corner, but PSG are quickly back at United and win a free kick out on the right. Neymar’s delivery is half cleared by Fernandes. Herrera balloons a first-time shot from distance miles over the bar.

48 min: United nearly pay for Rashford’s profligacy immediately, Mbappe’s twinkle toes taking him past McTominay and Wan-Bissaka on the left and into the box. He curls powerfully towards the top right, but De Gea tips round acrobatically for a corner.

47 min: Rashford is sent scampering into acres of space down the right by a simple Fernandes scoop. United are two on one! He could easily romp into the box himself, but tries to curl towards Martial on the left ... and gets it all wrong. A huge opportunity is spurned.

As lights on the Eiffel Tower glitter in the distance, PSG get the second half underway. They’ve made one half-time change, sending on Moise Kean in place of Idrissa Gueye. It’s still raining. Hoods up in the dugouts.

HALF TIME: PSG 0-1 Manchester United

United thoroughly deserve this lead, and it could easily have been more. They’ve been excellent. PSG by contrast have been a low-energy non-event.

45 min +1: Mbappe whistles one goalwards from distance, a last throw of the dice at the end of a dismal half for PSG. His effort twangs off Neymar’s back, which just about sums it up for the hosts.

45 min: There will be two added minutes. Thomas Tuchel will be desperate to get his troops back into the changing room for some trenchant half-time analysis.

43 min: A cross from the left into the United box. Mbappe spins and nearly gets a shot away, but fails to connect, allowing De Gea to batter clear.

42 min: Rashford nearly gets the better of Diallo down the inside-left channel, but the PSG defender gets a toe in, just in time.

39 min: Fernandes cuts in from the left and creams a shot towards the bottom right. Navas does extremely well to turn the ball round for a corner. From the set piece, McTominay fails to connect properly with his header, eight yards out. It twangs off Danilo and out for a second corner, which turns out to be a non-event. But United went very close, twice, to making it 0-2 there. They’ve been the bosses of their hosts so far.

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36 min: McTominay brings Neymar down with another cynical intervention, a slide tackle this time, and he’s in the book as well. “I think the kit has a bit of a dazzle ship feel,” writes Andy Tuohy. “Is the intention to confuse the opposition?” Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Parc?

Gunboat HMS Kildangan in dazzle camouflage, 1918. Photograph: IWM/Getty Images/IWM via Getty Images
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34 min: Mbappe zips down the left and nearly gets past Tuanzebe ... but the 22-year-old defender, making his first appearance of 2020, shuts the door with a strong shoulder. Neymar wants a penalty, though, and earns himself a yellow card by pushing the point a little too forcefully with the referee.

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