Manchester United and Marcus Rashford enjoyed another momentous Champions League night in Paris after the England forward struck a later winner to get his side’s European campaign off to the ideal start.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s depleted side were understandably considered as underdogs heading into their opening group stage fixture given the pedigree of the opposition and a defensive injury crisis.
The United boss was forced to give Axel Tuanzebe his first start since last December, deadline day signing Alex Telles made his debut, while Fred and Scott McTominay were both selected ahead of Paul Pogba.
Solskjaer’s brave selection decisions were, however, rewarded with a mature and accomplished display which yielded three valuable points when Rashford drilled in a low shot from the edge of the penalty with three minutes remaining.
It was deja vu for Rashford and United, who also won at Parc des Princes 18 months ago in the same competition when Solskjaer was only in interim charge.
That particular defeat was particularly galling for Angel Di Maria, the former United winger who had goaded United fans after PSG had left Old Trafford with a seemingly decisive 2-0 first leg victory.
The Argentina international was again powerless to prevent last season’s beaten finalists suffering a defeat at the hands of the Premier League giants, although Solskjaer did have David de Gea to thank for keeping his side on level terms with the Spainiard producing two splendid second-half stops from Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
‘Wow, the admin are dissing Di Maria,’ one supporter said. Another commented: ‘Big shade being thrown here.’ A third wrote ‘Low-key shot at Di Maria too.’
