Paris Saint-Germain held to draw by Manchester United ahead of UEFA Super Cup
In a tightly contested pre-season friendly, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United played out a 1-1 draw in Gothenburg, Sweden, just four days before their UEFA Super Cup showdown with Aston Villa.
Following a heavy 0-3 defeat to RCD Mallorca in Spain on Wednesday, the Parisians traveled to the chill of Gothenburg seeking redemption. With most of their star players still sidelined, PSG quickly made their presence felt. A well-worked move involving Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Dro Fernandez, and Ibrahim Mbaye culminated in the opening goal after just two minutes, silencing the home crowd. Kvaratskhelia nearly doubled the lead moments later, but Tom Heaton made a crucial save.
Manchester United fight back
The visitors showed resilience, with Mason Mount forced off injured early in the second half. Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo kept the pressure on, and after a free-kick from Mbeumo was parried away by Matveï Safonov, Diallo capitalized on a defensive error from Axel Koukaba to level the scores at 1-1 in the 32nd minute. Safonov was later beaten by Mbeumo’s curling free-kick, but Koukaba nearly gifted United another chance moments later. Kvaratskhelia remained PSG’s standout performer as the match ebbed and flowed.
Portuguese and Marquinhos see action
In the second half, Luis Enrique introduced several Portuguese players—Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, and Joao Mendes—as well as Marquinhos, who all featured for around 30 minutes. This provided a glimpse of the depth available to the manager ahead of Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup against Aston Villa.
Manchester United: Heaton (Mee, 49′) — Mazraoui (Dalot, 46′), Maguire (cap), Heaven (Yoro, 46′), Shaw (Amass, 65′) — Mount (T. Fletcher, 20′), Santos (Tielemans, 65′) — Diallo (J. Fletcher, 65′), Lacey, Dorgu (Fernandes, 65′) — Mbeumo (Zirkzee, 65′).
