Marcus Rashford repeated his late heroics against Paris St-Germain with a superb winner as Manchester United marked their return to the Champions League with a fine win at the home of last season’s beaten finalists.
Rashford’s stoppage-time penalty sealed a famous victory at the Parc des Princes 18 months ago and the England striker was again on target to ensure Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side took maximum points from their opening match in a formidable group.
The visitors had excelled in a first half which saw Bruno Fernandes stroke them ahead with a twice-taken penalty.
But the multiple French champions were far stronger and threatening in the second half and deservedly drew level when United striker Anthony Martial headed into his own net.
David de Gea had to put in a much-improved display in United’s goal, making strong saves to deny PSG’s superstar duo Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
And the sides looked set to share the points when Rashford collected a pass from substitute Paul Pogba, rolled away from a defender and fired in off the base of the post from 20 yards.
Same old PSG?
The rebuilding of Paris St-Germain has long been aimed solely at European glory – with domestic monopoly tied up years ago – and the run to the final just 58 days ago looked like a key juncture.
Thomas Tuchel’s side is packed with blistering talent, but question marks over their consistency have long been raised and this was another frustrating display.
They moved the ball far too slowly in the first half and deserved to find themselves behind, even if De Gea was called into a double save from Angel di Maria and Layvin Kurzawa.
Tuchel moved Di Maria deeper at half-time, sending on Everton loanee Moise Kean up front, and his side were better. De Gea again made a flying save to deny Mbappe after a typically brilliant run, and Kurzawa hit the crossbar with a miscued cross.
Martial gave them a route back into the match when he nodded Neymar’s inswinging corner into his own net, but United improved when Pogba came on.
With RB Leipzig – semi-finalists last season – up and running with a win, it is now Tuchel’s side who need to click into gear fast just to make it out of Group H.
