Cesc Fabregas has defended Manchester United’s performance against Paris Saint-Germain after his former Arsenal teammate, Julio Baptista, claimed the Red Devils “relied on luck” at the Parc des Princes.
United turned around a two-goal deficit from the first leg, beating PSG 3-1 with a last minute penalty to seal their place in the Champions League quarter-finals on away goals.
Were Man United lucky to progress? Five key things to know…
- United went into the second leg ravaged by injuries and without suspended star Paul Pogba.
- Romelu Lukaku scored either side of a Juan Bernat goal before Marcus Rashford’s stoppage time penalty.
- The penalty decision went to VAR and was divisive to say the least.
- PSG created a number of chances and Angel di Maria had a brilliantly worked goal correctly ruled out for offside.
- The hosts, who were again without key attackers Neymar and Edinson Cavani, had 72% possession and attempted 12 shots to United’s five.
After the game, Baptista – who played with Fabregas in the 2006/07 season while on loan from Real Madrid – tweeted his thoughts on United, suggesting Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were fortunate.
“A Manchester United without merit goes through to the next round, who were restricted to defending the whole game, relying on luck to beat PSG,” he wrote, as translated by FourFourTwo.
“Manchester, being as great a team as it is, can’t afford to play like that if they want to win a Champions League.”
But Fabregas was on hand to defend United’s display, insisting the Red Devils deserved their luck.
He said: “Everyone plays to their strengths and United were missing at least eight very important injured players.
“They were putting on academy players for the last 20 minutes because they didn’t have anything else. Were they lucky? Yes. But they deserve respect for fighting and believing until the end.”
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Solskjaer’s “job interview” gets even better
In the build-up to the match, Solskjaer spoke of how he is treating his interim spell in charge of United as a job interview.
“I will try to do the best job interview I have ever done, and that’s why I enjoy my time here. I’m at a club where I know everyone. It’s natural,” the Norwegian said.
In Paris, Solskjaer surely ticked another huge box in regards to being handed the permanent job this summer.
Despite PSG’s dominance, United became the first side in the competition’s history to progress from a knockout tie after losing the first leg by two goals at home.
They now eagerly await the draw for the quarter-finals.
The post Fabregas defends Man Utd after ex-Arsenal teammate criticises their PSG performance appeared first on Squawka News.
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