UEFA- Paris Saint-Germain have at least put one foot into the quarter-finals of the Champions League following a 2-0 win over Manchester United in the first leg of their last 16 clash at Old Trafford this evening.
The Ligue 1 leaders switched gear in the second half as quickfire goals from Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe gave the visitors two crucial away goals to take back to the Parc des Princes on March 6.
The result sees Ole Gunnar Solskjaer suffer his first defeat in his 12th match as United manager, and their misery was compounded late on when Paul Pogba was sent off to ensure that he will miss the return leg in Paris.
As can so often be the case in first legs, the match began in cagey fashion and both sides struggled to create clear chances in a scrappy and at times heated opening 45 minutes.
PSG were without injured duo Neymar and Edinson Cavani, but Angel Di Maria was able to return to his former club and almost provided a perfect early response to the jeers he received when in possession with curling 25-yard strike which drifted a couple of yards wide of the far post.
Gianluigi Buffon was called into action for the first time shortly afterwards when he turned Marcus Rashford's powerful shot from a tight angle around the post, and the veteran goalkeeper was needed again in the 16th minute when he cut out Paul Pogba's low cross from the right after the French midfielder has beaten Presnel Kimpembe far too easily down the right flank.
The best chance of the opening 45 minutes fell to the visitors just before the half-hour mark when Marco Verratti and Julian Draxler combined to send Kylian Mbappe through inside the area, but the winger could not squeeze his shot inside the near post on the slide.
Such goalscoring opportunities were a rarity, though, and there ended up being five yellow cards in the first half compared to only six shots - the joint-fewest of any game in this season's competition prior to this evening.
Di Maria had his blushes spared by the offside flag when he squandered a golden chance after rounding David de Gea, while the best either side could muster in the closing stages of the half were off-target long-range strikes from Victor Lindelof and Dani Alves.
Solskjaer was forced into two early changes as Jesse Lingard limped off just before half time and Anthony Martial was withdrawn during the interval, with Alexis Sanchez and Juan Mata replacing them.
PSG failed to register a single shot on target in the first half of a Champions League game for the first time since April 2015, but that soon changed in the second half when Alves picked out Mbappe, whose low header needed to be turned around the post by De Gea.
The opening goal came from the resulting corner as De Gea and Nemanja Matic left Di Maria's inswinging delivery for each other, allowing Kimpembe to steal in and volley the ball into the roof of the net from close range.
Suddenly PSG looked every bit the fearsome attacking outfit that had scored in every single game this season, and they almost added a second within three minutes when Alves's first-time volley from outside the area deflected inches wide off the outstretched leg of Pogba.
