Pogba sent off as PSG triumph at Old Trafford
Goals from Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe left Manchester United with a mountain to climb as Paris Saint-Germain won 2-0 in the Champions League roundof-16 first leg and Paul Pogba was sent off at Old Trafford.
PSG struck twice in seven minutes before the hour, Kimpembe volleying home a corner before Mbappe produced a clinical finish from ex-United player Angel Di Maria’s cross to condemn United caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to his first defeat in 12 games in charge.
Things became even worse for the home side with time ticking away when Pogba was dismissed after a foul on Dani Alves, meaning the France international misses the second leg in Paris.
United had been quickly out of the blocks, Marcus Rashford’s attempt to play Jesse Lingard through thwarted by an interception.
But the first real threat came from Di Maria, whose curling shot after six minutes went wide of David De Gea’s post.
Back came United and Ashley Young fed Rashford, whose deflected cross-shot forced Gianluigi Buffon into a save.
Rashford’s sharp turn brought a foul that saw Kimpembe booked before United again threatened when fine play from Pogba ended with a low cross that Buffon held well.
A Young cross was diverted away from Lingard and Pogba fired over, with Julian Draxler soon becoming the second PSG player to be booked when he fouled Ander Herrera.
Lingard got his attempted pass to Martial on the left wrong as United failed to make the most of a breakaway, and Pogba was shown a yellow card for a foul on Marco Verratti.
Draxler’s touch put Verratti in but he fired wide, and then Young fouled Kylian Mbappe to become the fourth player booked.
Young crashed into Di Maria as he chased a wayward pass, clattering off the pitch but escaping with a talking-to from the referee.
Solskjaer was forced into a change in first-half injury time when Lingard, who had gone down earlier with what looked like a hamstring tweak, was replaced by Alexis Sanchez.
A second change followed before the start of the second period, Martial -- who appeared to have tweaked a hamstring shortly before the end of the first half -- replaced by Juan Mata.
Herrera’s bouncing strike from the edge of the box was close as United sought a way back, but on the hour they were in deep trouble when Di Maria provided the perfect low cross for Mbappe to steer home.