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#2 Solskjaer's misplaced faith backfires miserably
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was rightly lauded for his defense-centric, counter-attacking tactics as United defiantly stifled PSG on MD1 in Paris. That was October 20 and seems a long time ago.
This latest defeat means they've earned six points in four Group H games since, meaning next week will be a nervy watch in Germany while their Premier League rivals have already qualified.
Having last year's Champions League finalists and semi-finalists in your group is a sure-fire way to test whether you're good enough for a deep run - one United haven't truly had for a decade. Questions continue to bubble under the surface about whether Solskjaer's the right man for the job long-term and in truth, performances like these don't help his cause.
Solskjaer's been retired 13 years and he still would've scored Martial's chance. The woodwork stopped them from taking a second-half lead and they played the final 25 minutes with ten men. I hear all of that, really. But at the same time, he was overshadowed by a proactive Thomas Tuchel a few yards across from him as PSG survived the hosts' pressure and hit them for six.
With five substitutes at his disposal, why did Fred start the second half? Martial and Bruno Fernandes were both poor, yet it took them going down to ten men for him to change anything. Jose Mourinho hooked Erik Lamela at Old Trafford in early October at half-time after he deceived referee Anthony Taylor into sending Martial off during a similar off-the-ball incident.
Why did it not dawn on him to do the same? Fred was doing himself no favours and with the wealth of options to choose from, his misplaced faith backfired in a way we all saw coming. What's more infuriating? His predictable, baffling post-match response - which speaks volumes:
#1 PSG survive second-half pressure, deliver knockout punch
Make no mistake about it, PSG were hanging on at times in the second half. The players knew, while Tuchel was aware too and made a double substitution after 65 minutes.
Four minutes later, they regained their slender advantage. It wasn't as simple as that, of course, but he was balancing risk with reward in a way we rarely see from the German in big matches like this.
Tuchel didn't need telling just how important this game was for PSG, as far as their Champions League aspirations are concerned. One commentator suggested this result kept him in a job and while that felt a little reactionary, it wasn't exactly far-fetched.
PSG host already-eliminated Basaksehir next week, and barring a dramatic collapse, have essentially earned their knockout berth.
Herrera is a defense-first midfielder and would've been motivated to face his former side in the city that was home for five years until last summer. Both he and Mitchel Bakker made their presence felt, albeit in different ways, replacing Paredes and a fairly quiet Kean.
2-1 up with a numerical advantage, Herrera provided fresh impetus in place of a more creative-minded Paredes, while PSG fullback Bakker almost scored seconds before Marquinhos' close-range finish. Rafinha - another sub - played the decisive pass for Neymar to seal all three points in stoppage-time, while Thilo Kehrer was an additional defensive body as United went out to equalise.
This was their biggest match of the new campaign to date and amid premature rumblings of a genuine Ligue 1 title race this term, they delivered against tough opposition away from home. If only they could've done the same in Germany...
