Champions League 2018/19: 3 mistakes that led to PSG's heavy 3-1 defeat to Manchester United
Manchester United stunned French champions Paris Saint-Germain, pulling off a brilliant 3-1 victory in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie on Wednesday at the Parc des Princes.
Romelu Lukaku gave the Red Devils an early lead after he capitalised on an error by right-back Thilo Kehrer but PSG left-back Juan Bernat soon equalised from a Kylian Mbappe assist.
United were back on the scoresheet in the thirtieth-minute courtesy Lukaku, who again seized upon a mistake made by PSG's wily old goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. The game was finally sealed when Presnel Kimpembe was penalised for a handball and Marcus Rashford scored from the resulting penalty.
All in all, PSG made a host of errors which led to their downfall. We look at three of the biggest ones:
#1 Allowing Romelu Lukaku a free run
Romelu Lukaku was allowed far too much space in front of goal by PSG centre-halves Thiago Silva and Presnel Kimpembe. He has been in brilliant form and came into the game on the back of two successive braces in his last two matches. He followed that up with another brace in this game.
Silva was flat-footed on quite a few occasions and even Kimpembe looked flustered a few times while trying to deal with the marauding Belgian.
#2 No check on Luke Shaw
PSG did not track United left-back Luke Shaw's runs and he often ended up in dangerous positions. Shaw had a great game defensively and while he is not yet up there with the best in the world in terms of attacking instincts, he did provide some incisiveness to United's attack.
PSG right-back Thilo Kehrer, who had a nightmare, was the man responsible for allowing Shaw a free run at times.
#3 Marquinhos' lack of composure in midfield
Although PSG's midfield maestro Marco Verratti had a brilliant game, the tussle in the centre of the park was won by the unlikely Red Devils' duo of Fred and Scott McTominay. This was also aided by the fact that Marquinhos did not have as good a game as he did in the first leg.
Verratti tried to build attacks and distribute the ball but Fred was always nipping at him and McTominay too was always nearby to help him out. Marquinhos' inability to nail the defensive midfielder's position made it easier for United to generate plenty of attacks.