Manchester United beat PSG 3-1 in the second leg of Champions League. (Source: AP)Manchester United scripted a historic comeback in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League fixture against PSG at Parc des Princes to enter the quarterfinals on Wednesday night. After going down 2-0 in the first leg at Old Trafford, United pulled off a 3-1 (3-3 aggregate) victory in the second leg, win thanks to the away goals rule. Never in 106 attempts in Europe’s premium club competition, has a team progressed in a knockout tie after a 2-0 home defeat.
With the win, United become the fourth team after Porto, Ajax, and Tottenham to make it to last eight of the tournament. PSG, who were touted to be one of the favourites before the start of the tournament, were knocked out for the third time in three years in the Round of 16.
Here is how Manchester United picked up the win:
2′ PSG 0-1 Manchester United (2-1 agg)
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, at the pre-match press conference, had said that they need an early goal going into the match. Romelu Lukaku, who had scored a brace in the previous two games for United, did exactly just that. Thilo Kehrer sent an awful pass towards Dani Alves. Romelu Lukaku spotted the opportunity, sped over to Alves and took control of the ball. He then raced past Gianluigi Buffon and then calmly put the ball in the back of the net.
12′ PSG 1-1 Manchester United (3-1 agg)
Lukaku’s strike was cancelled just out 10 minutes later after Juan Bernat tapped a cross from Kylian Mbappe into the back of the Manchester United net. Dani Alves slipped a pass towards the Frenchman, who was raced away from the backline inside the box. Mbappe whipped a low cross towards the back of the goal, and Bernat was on hand to put it inside the net from a couple of yards out.
30′ PSG 1-2 Manchester United (3-2 agg)
However, Lukaku wasn’t done feasting on PSG’s mistakes of the day. Marcus Rashford’s strike from distance was parried by Buffon. Lukaku reacted the quickest and with no defender or goalkeeper to challenge him, he placed the ball into the back of an empty net. The goal meant that United had countered the away goal advantage with PSG and if they scored one more, they would win via away goals rule.
90+4′ PSG 1-3 Manchester United (3-3 agg)
With time running out, Diogo Dalot had a bit of space and decided to try his luck from distance. Presnel Kimpembe turned his back to block the shot and sent it for a corner. But before United could take the set piece to run into, the referee went to check the monitor after being alerted to by the Video Assistant Referee. After a long look, the referee decided to signal for a penalty. The 21-year-old Rashford, who had never taken a penalty for United in a senior game, stepped forward. Keeping his cool under tremendous pressure, he whipped a powerful shot towards the top right corner. There was no chance for Buffon to stop that. MANCHESTER UNITED WIN ON AWAY GOALS!
