Tseyi Agharaye
Marcus Rashford scored a stoppage time penalty as Manchester United complete a sensational turnaround by overturning a 2-0 first leg deficit to qualify for the Champions League in the round of 16 after beating Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 at the Parc des Princes.
United were a goal ahead on the night but seemingly crashing out of Europe, until referee Damir Skomina awarded a penalty for a handball by Presnel Kimpembe making the decision with the help of Video Assistant Referee. Rashford showed great compsure beyond his years to slam home the spot kick.
With a long list of absentees, United were huge underdogs and started the match with Scott McTominay, Andreas Pereiraand Fred in midfield, while Eric Baillystarted a right-back with Ashley Youngfurther forward.
But they were a goal ahead within two minutes after in-form Romelu Lukaku pounced on a short back pass from Thilo Kehrer to round Gianluigi Buffon and slide the ball into the empty net.
PSG reacted well to the goal and took control of the game, eventually seeing their good work rewarded on 12 minutes when Juan Bernat breezed past a static Bailly to equalise after Kylian Mbappe had played a ball across the goal.
However, United were back in front on the half hour mark when Buffon spilled a routine Marcus Rashford effort to the feet of Lukaku, who tapped the ball into the net.
With United enjoying more possession, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reacted by replacing the disappointing Bailly with Diogo Dalot — who made a big difference when introduced against Southampton on Saturday – and putting Young back in defence.
Angel Di Maria, who was created both goals at Old Trafford, thought he had levelled things up on the night, only to see his delicate chip over David De Gea ruled out for offside before Rashford put United through in stoppage time.
The result sees United reach the quarterfinal stage for the first time since 2011, while PSG are eliminated in the round o 16 for the third consecutive season.
Meanwhile, in Portugal Fc Porto played host to As Roma
The Serie A outfit head into the encounter leading 2-1 from the first leg and they nearly fell behind inside the opening five minutes when Alex Telles volleyed over the crossbar, before the Porto attacker hit the side-netting 10 minutes later.
Porto’s persistence eventually paid off in the 26th minute as Moussa Marega combined with Tiquinho, who slotted home from close range to make it 2-2 on aggregate.
However, Roma were handed a lifeline after being awarded a penalty, which captain Daniele De Rossi duly converted to put the Serie A side back ahead in the tie.
The visitors were then dealt a blow on the stroke of halftime when De Rossi was forced off with an injury and replaced by Lorenzo Pellegrini.
Seven minutes into the second half, Porto regained the lead on the night when Marega fired past Robin Olsen after being picked out by Jesus Corona.
It was an end-to-end affair as the second half continued, although clear-cut chances were hard to come by on both ends of the field.
Porto had a chance to win the tie with six minutes remaining in the second half, but Roma shot-stopper Olsen produced a superb save to keep out Otavio to send the game into extra-time.
After a scoreless opening 15 minutes, Edin Dzeko went close to pulling Roma level on the night but his goal-bound effort was cleared by Pepe in the 111th minute.
Four minutes later, VAR came to Porto’s rescue when Alessandro Florenzi was shown tugging the shirt of Porto attacker Fernando in the box, resulting in a penalty.
Telles took responsibility and made no mistake from 12-yards out to seal a 3-1 win on the night and a 4-3 win on aggregate.
