Marcus Rashford scored a nerveless injury-time penalty as Manchester United staged an incredible comeback to beat Paris St-Germain on away goals and reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
Rashford thumped home the VAR-awarded spot-kick in the 94th minute after Diogo Dalot’s speculative shot struck Presnel Kimpembe on the arm.
The odds were stacked against United in Paris, but they became the first team in Champions League and European Cup history, at the 107th time of asking, to overcome a 2-0 or greater home first-leg deficit.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s visitors got the perfect start thanks to Romelu Lukaku’s opportunist strike after two minutes, the Belgium striker latching on to Thilo Kehrer’s blind backpass and finding the net.
PSG went 3-1 ahead on aggregate when Kylian Mbappe fed a pass to the unmarked Juan Bernat, who slotted home at the back post.
The hosts then had a succession of chances, with makeshift right-back Eric Bailly enduring a torrid time in his 35 minutes on the pitch, before injury saw him replaced by Dalot.
Unable to capitalise, PSG were punished when veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon spilled Rashford’s long-range shot and Lukaku converted United’s second.
The game appeared to be petering out to its conclusion before Dalot fired the ball against the arm of the unfortunate Kimpembe, and after a long delay while the referee consulted his pitch-side monitor, Rashford’s ice-cool penalty sealed a remarkable win
United were heading out at the last-16 stage for the second consecutive season when France defender Kimpembe’s block from Dalot’s shot deflected away for a corner.
But before it could be taken Slovenian referee Damir Skomina consulted with the VAR before coming to the side of the pitch to review the incident on the monitor.
Players waited anxiously on the pitch and Kimpembe slumped to the ground when the penalty was finally awarded, before Rashford stepped up to smash the ball high beyond the reach of Buffon.
United had to survive until the game’s 100th minute before joyously celebrating a famous Champions League victory in front of their boisterous travelling support at the final whistle.
Meanwhile it was great night as footballing idols descended on Parc des Princes for the all-important clash
Sir Alex Ferguson was chaperoned into the ground through a cordoned off area and took the time to pose for selfies with fans.
The Manchester United legend was given a warm reception by those who had waited in the cold for his arrival.
Former United left-back Patrice Evra was also in the entourage with Ferguson and offered a beaming smile upon arrival.
And the French club rolled out the red carpet for Fergie, sitting him alongside former French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Evra was positioned in the United section and was seen sharing a joke with Paul Pogba and Gary Neville.
Pogba was banned for the game having been sent off at the end of the first leg at Old Trafford.
Eric Cantona was also pictured in the stands as well as France World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit, who took time out to interact with supporters.
Neymar was another high profile onlooker and was seen up in the Gods as he continues to recover from his foot injury.
The Brazil and PSG forward sat in the same area as Ninja, a professional Fortnite gamer who has more Twitter followers than Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe combined.
No doubt Neymar would have been itching to get onto the pitch, particularly after watching his side concede two goals in the first half an hour.
He then made his way down to the touchline after Marcus Rashford had scored the penalty to send United through on aggregate and watched on in anguish knowing that he will play no further part in the Champions League this year.
RESULTS
PSG 1-3 Man Utd
Porto 3-1 Roma
