New Telegraph

UEFA League: Man Utd last-16 hopes in peril with PSG loss, Giroud hits four for Chelsea

 

Manchester United missed the chance to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages with a game to spare as they lost to last year’s runners-up Paris St-Germain at Old Trafford.
Neymar lashed home on the half-volley, after a Kylian Mbappe shot was blocked, to give the visitors the lead before United midfielder Fred was lucky to only receive a yellow card when he needlessly pushed his head against Leandro Paredes, reports the BBC.
Marcus Rashford’s deflected shot, from the edge of the area, pulled Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side level before half-time.
They dominated at the start of the second half with Anthony Martial spooning over from 10 yards, before Edinson Cavani hit the bar with a delightful chip from 20 yards.
But PSG capitalised on United’s wastefulness when captain Marquinhos poked home at the back post after a wayward shot was turned back goalwards by Abdou Diallo.
Moments later Fred was sent off, despite winning the ball, for a lunge on former United midfielder Ander Herrera.
And Neymar rounded off PSG’s win when he slotted home from seven yards in stoppage time.
Despite the loss United just need to avoid defeat in their final group game against RB Leipzig, next Tuesday, to reach the last 16.
And in Spain, Olivier Giroud scored all four goals in a comprehensive Chelsea victory over Sevilla that ensures the Blues take top spot in Champions League Group E.
The Frenchman scored early in each half with two delightful finishes after being fed by clever passes from Kai Havertz and Matteo Kovacic respectively.
He completed the treble with a flicked near-post header, then converted a penalty after he was bundled over in the box.
Already assured of qualification for the last 16, Chelsea made nine changes to the team that drew 0-0 with Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.
Both Havertz and Christian Pulisic made their first Blues starts since October following illness and injury, while 19-year-old midfielder Billy Gilmour came off the bench for his first appearance of the season.
Sevilla, also sure of their place in the knockout stages, were without a number of first-choice players and were forced to give a debut to goalkeeper Alfonso Pastor after Tomas Vaclik was injured in the warm-up.
There was little the 20-year-old could do about the goals and his saves ensured Chelsea’s winning margin was not greater.
RESULTS
FK Krasnodar 1 – 0 Rennes
Istanbul Basaksehir 3 – 4 RB Leipzig
Sevilla 0 – 4 Chelsea
B’Dortmund 1 – 1 Lazio
Club Bruges 3 – 0 Zenit St Petersburg
Ferencvárosi TC 0 – 3 Barcelona
Juventus 3 – 0 Dynamo Kyiv
Man Utd 1 – 3 PSG

Read Previous

State of emergency better than summoning Buhari, Says Kalu

Read Next

How Abdulsalam Quadri Opeyemi, aka ‘Blinjoe’ became licensed pilot

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *