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It is nearly 600 days since the Parisian night that suggested Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was returning Manchester United to the high plain of football once traveled by Sir Alex Ferguson’s players.
That impressive Champions League win over Paris Saint Germain in March last year was about youth, courage, ambition and a bold hope.
The club will come full circle this week on Tuesday, when they return to the Parc des Princes in the same competition, and while they are still staring at the face of a mountain on their way to the top, here was a reminder that those qualities still resided within.
Manchester United prepared for their midweek challenge with PSG with a 4-1 win at Newcastle
United will return to Paris 600 days after crushing PSG in the Champions League round of 16
Marcus Rashford, Daniel James and Aaron wan Bissaka played with the kind of instinct and fearlessness that young people know best. Juan Mata was masterful: the best player in the game and United’s cognitive core. Bruno Fernandes worked the midfield spaces with Mata in a way that came to extinguish the horrors of what happened at Old Trafford two weeks ago.
It helped that Solskjaer initially dispensed with a player whose insolence towards the club confirms all the suspicions Ferguson had about him and his agent.
With Paul Pogba safely benched, Scott McTominay had scope to show presence and stature at the rear of the midfield, making United a better team when he’s in it.
Players like Juan Mata and Bruno Fernandes (above) show that United have some talent
United rested Paul Pogba on Saturday, allowing Scott McTominay (left) to impress in the north
You imagined Ferguson nodding appreciatively somewhere, as his young compatriot spotted Daniel James with test passes on the channels in the first half.
It takes a good dose of perspective on how the night went. As Arsene Wenger observes in the new autobiography, the world of viewers always wants managers and teams to be “brilliant or dumb.” Harry Maguire was proof that the truth lies somewhere in between.
The 27-year-old faced unwavering scrutiny and the look of anguish on his face when Manchester United fell behind in two minutes made one wonder how much more of this could any individual bear.
Harry Maguire (above) also impressed by scoring an important draw in Saturday’s victory.
Yet by the end of the night he had deconstructed the narrative, bringing composure around his own area, escaping Jamaal Lascelles’ attention to deposit an equalizer, and then speaking eloquently and humbly in front of the cameras.
He would have scored again if Jonjo Shelvey didn’t clear his header from the second half of the line.
But there were some tough moments for Maguire that would likely have prompted closer scrutiny if Sky Sports had delivered the same quality of analysis for its £ 14.95 box office customers as it did for its main events channel.
The cross that Allan Saint-Maximim raised from Callum Wilson’s signature around the hour mark was beyond Maguire’s capabilities. Helplessly, he watched it go over his head to offer the young forward a chance to extend a boot and put Newcastle up front. It took the best of David de Gea not to shoot.
Maguire (left) impressed by the Red Devils, but still needs to improve his game before the PSG game
Maguire cut through several balls down the right that Wilson could have run with, but he and Victor Lindelof are a pale imitation of the impenetrable rear guard that Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic provided for so long.
What wouldn’t Maguire or Solskjaer give for a Vidic? Instead, they have Victor Lindelof, whose role in those catastrophic opening minutes was terrifyingly significant.
The deflection of Luke Shaw’s knee that sent United ahead was unfortunate, but the true story of the first goal was in its early stages – Callum Wilson circling Lindelof and finding Allan Saint-Maximim, who passed the ball to through Fred’s legs and put Jonjo Shelvey running. in wide open spaces that United had abandoned.
The expression on Lindelof’s face was one of blind panic when Saint-Maximim threatened. He is entering his fourth season at United and would have been long gone if Ferguson were still in charge.
Maguire’s fellow central defender Victor Lindelof (left) struggled a lot in the game against Newcastle
The Swedish center missed on Luke Shaw’s (right) own goal in the second minute
When Fernandes missed a penalty, it looked like another unconvincing night was coming, although the recovery revealed psychological strength and, when United’s second goal came, sublime football.
It wasn’t just Fernandes’s shot that took his breath away, but the 50 meters of grass he cleared.
He drove Danny van der Beek’s ball into Mata with his heel right in front of his penalty area, ran those yards to retrieve it from Marcus Rashford’s own heel, and then drove the winner home. Wan Bissaka’s goal reflected his own ambition upstairs.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka also impressed by scoring a vital third for Manchester United in Newcastle.
Next week will be a week of reflection on how far United have traveled since that fateful last trip to Paris. Not far enough for a club of its immense wealth and expense.
There will be more potholes ahead because Chelsea and Arsenal, both better structured sides, are in the way.
But tonight it showed potential and a direction of travel, at least. After everything you’ve brought in the past month, they’ll accept it.
