With as many as ten first-team players absent due to injuries and suspension, Manchester United beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.
The Parisians were delighted after winning the round of sixteen first leg at old Trafford 2-0 but found themselves behind after Romelu Lukaku capitalized on a terrible back pass to open the scoring after 111 seconds.
The Belgium star restored United's one-goal cushion on the half-hour mark after Juan Bernat's equaliser and the winning goal came from Marcus Rashford who converted a penalty in the 94th minute.
Former Nigeria international Joseph Yobo, who was speaking as a pundit on SuperSport, has credited Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for the astonishing comeback against the Ligue 1 champions.
''Looking at today's fixture and the number of players that are injured, who would have thought that Solskjaer would come here with this team and give them such a belief,'' said Yobo.
''I think it comes from the manager which he showed today. If you watch the press conference, he said belief is the key for them.
''I think it comes from the manager which he showed today. If you watch the press conference, he said belief is the key for them.
''The early goal also helped, the early goal changed the narrative and when you go 2-1 ahead you start believing that you can do better.''
The former Everton defender added : ''In the second half I thought they were in total control, they controlled the game and they could have even scored more.
''Overall in general, this is an incredible result, it is remarkable for United to qualify for the quarterfinals. It is going to go down in history.
''For Solskjaer, what he has done is unbelievable. To qualify for the quarterfinals is incredible for him.''
The former Everton defender added : ''In the second half I thought they were in total control, they controlled the game and they could have even scored more.
''Overall in general, this is an incredible result, it is remarkable for United to qualify for the quarterfinals. It is going to go down in history.
''For Solskjaer, what he has done is unbelievable. To qualify for the quarterfinals is incredible for him.''
Martial, Jones, Lingard, Darmian, Mata, Alexis, Matic, Ander Herrera and Valencia were not selected on account of injuries while Paul Pogba was serving a suspension after he was sent off in the first leg.
Igho Kingsley
Photo Credit : uefa.com
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