Marcus Rashford sprinted toward the corner flag inside an empty Parc des Princes and slid on his knees in celebration, just like two seasons ago. Another trip to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Another late winner for the Manchester United striker. In a heavyweight contest on the opening night of the group stage, United reproduced its stunning exploits from the 2018-19 competition by beating PSG away thanks to Rashford's 87th-minute strike in a 2-1 win on Tuesday. It was an eerily similar scenario to 18 months ago, when United arrived in the French capital heavily depleted and 2-0 down from the first leg of the teams' last-16 match. It was Rashford who clinched an unlikely 3-1 win and progress to the quarterfinals with a stoppage-time penalty.
PSG, last season's beaten finalist, already has work to do if the Qatar-owned team is to realize its long-held ambition of being European champion for the first time.
There were no fans at the Parc des Princes, one of three stadiums along with Barcelona's Camp Nou and Chelsea's Stamford Bridge to be without spectators for the return of the Champions League because of the coronavirus.
Sluggish Paris Saint-Germain
A sluggish PSG certainly could have done with some backing from its supporters, with United proving more than a match for the home team despite having a makeshift center-back pairing of Axel Tuanzebe and Victor Lindelof while Paul Pogba started on the bench. United went ahead through midfielder Bruno Fernandes' twice-taken penalty midway through the first half but conceded when Anthony Martial rose to clear Neymar's corner from the left, only to glance a header past his own goalkeeper, David de Gea, in the 55th.
Rashford had already been denied by PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas when he collected a pass from Pogba and smashed a low, angled shot inside the far post from the edge of the penalty area.
