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Manchester United stun PSG in Champions League

From left: Manchester United's Paul Pogba takes on Paris Saint Germain's Rafinha and Neymar.

From left: Manchester United's Paul Pogba takes on Paris Saint Germain's Rafinha and Neymar. Photo: EPA

Marcus Rashford fired Manchester United to another memorable victory at Paris St Germain as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men started their Champions League campaign with a bang.

After a season away from European football’s top table, the Red Devils returned to action at the Parc des Princes, where just 19 months ago they secured one of their greatest ever comebacks in this competition.

Rashford fired home the late winner that night and again sealed a last-gasp United triumph in the French capital, where last season’s Champions League finalists PSG were deservedly overcome 2-1 in Tuesday’s Group H opener.

Many predicted a home win given the side’s contrasting fortunes of late, with David De Gea making two important early stops before Anthony Martial was brought down in the box by Abdou Diallo midway through the first half.

Stand-in skipper Bruno Fernandes saw his penalty saved for the second successive match, but held his nerve to find the net after the VAR ordered a retake for Keylor Navas straying off his line.

United looked convincing in a 3-5-2 formation and could have gone further ahead, only for Martial to glance a Neymar corner into his own net and spark a helter-skelter conclusion.

Both sides had chances to win but United looked more impressive and, just as Solskjaer’s side looked set for a morale-boosting draw, Rashford lashed a superb late winner to stun PSG once more.

“We win against a fantastic team, last time was knockout and the euphoria was different this time there are no fans, it is sterile and no-one to celebrate with,” Solskjaer told BT Sport.

“We know that when you go away against a team like this against players like Neymar and Mbappe, we know we have to defend well.”

In Spain, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi became the first player to score in 16 consecutive Champions League seasons as he guided 10-man Barcelona to a 5-1 victory over Hungarian side Ferencvaros at the Camp Nou.

Messi netted from the penalty spot in the first half for his 116th career goal in the competition, before the lively Ansu Fati added a second.

Philippe Coutinho grabbed another goal early in the second half but Barca defender Gerard Pique was dismissed for impeding the lively Tokmac Nguen, leading to a penalty for the visitors that was converted by Igor Kharatin.

Any thoughts of a dramatic comeback were quashed though as 17-year-old Pedri netted his first Barca goal after arriving from second-tier Las Palmas at the start of the season, and Ousmane Dembele added the fifth late on.

The Catalan side move above Juventus on goal difference at the top of the table after the Italian champions won 2-0 away at Dynamo Kyiv earlier on Tuesday. The pair meet in Turin on October 28.

Juve, who were without Cristiano Ronaldo as he continues to quarantine following his positive coronavirus test, won from Alvaro Morata’s second-half brace, smashing into the net on the first and heading home the second.

In other results, Leipzig beat Istanbul Basaksehir 2-0, Rennes drew 1-1 with Krasnodar, Lazio defeated Dortmund 3-1, Club Brugge snatched a late 2-1 win over Zenit St Petersburg while Chelsea drew with Sevilla 0-0.

-AAP

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