It ended PSG 1 Newcastle 1.
Before each match, we ask one of our writers to come up with three positives and three negatives after the match.
An ‘interesting’ competition in Paris.
Plenty to talk about after this Champions League match.
While United made it to 14 points out of a possible 24 in the Champions League final.
On this occasion it is David Punton:
POSITIVE
Progress assured
In Paris the mission was accomplished.
In the home of the European champions, Eddie and his players made their point.
A point achieved thanks to a monumental effort.
Of course we were through to the play-offs anyway, but to end with a draw at such a great club was great to see, especially after the Villa game, and especially because we were without Bruno and Joelinton.
Eddie Howe, despite his critics, guided us well in the Champions League, and we performed much better than I certainly thought.
The play-off promises to be exciting – one between Qarabag of Azerbaijan or Monaco – and we will be at home for the second leg.
Top performance
It was encouraging to see so many improved views from the players. Evidence perhaps that the high number of games this season has been a factor.
I have to start with Nick Pope. United’s custodian made a mistake in Marseille, but he made up for it in Paris with a brilliant penalty save.
Dan Burn is back. A punctured lung in the derby was a bad thing, but the rest will have done him good. He put in a man of the match performance when we needed it. Colossal. A header scored the goal.
Then we come to Joe Willock. Hopefully this was a bit of a turning point for him. When he gets into the flow he has plenty of goals in him and this felt like a return to what we know he can do. More of the same please, Joe.
Lewis Miley continues to show what an exceptional talent we have on our hands.
Tonali has run his socks off, Lewis Hall is a brilliant left-back, Elanga is improving and Botman is looking more like a rock.
Finally, Jacob Ramsey, who has had to wait for an opportunity, but this was so much better for him and it bodes well for the second half of the season.
Tactical adjustments a turning point?
There have probably been too many games this season where we have played well and it has been called a turning point.
But could PSG’s away match finally mark a key moment for us?
Eddie Howe changed the formation and it worked, so he gets credit for that.
It could be a blueprint for away games.
We need one of those famous purple Eddie Howe patches, maybe that’s not too far off now…
NEGATIVES
Ref justice
Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic was the man in the middle and he was terrible.
The penalty incidents were nasty, and we all thought VAR would do better under UEFA than in the Premier League.
Elanga was shown a yellow card for being fouled by a PSG player!
A tough challenge against Botman goes unpunished.
No idea how these officials can be brought in in later rounds. Surely the UEFA judge/delegates at the match would have seen this?
Mr. Vincic was shocked.
What could have been
I’m not going to criticize Harvey Barnes because he’s been huge.
However, the miss must be viewed negatively as this was the moment when we could and probably should have achieved a famous victory.
Fixture congestion
A draw against Paris is nothing to sneeze at and I certainly didn’t expect us to achieve anything.
That said, it means even more fixture congestion as a two-legged play-off is now added to the calendar.
It doesn’t look like any new signings will arrive in the current period, so we’ll have to continue with what we have.
Then the small matter of a trip to Anfield, where we haven’t won a league game since 1994.
#positive #negative #points #PSG #Newcastle #Paris