Paris and Manchester United cancel each other out

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Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United drew (1-1) in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Women's Champions League at the Leigh Sports Village. A look back on the European encounter.

A few days after the D1 Arkema victory at AS Saint-Étienne (0-1), Paris Saint-Germain were back in action in a new competition: the UEFA Women's Champions League. And for this first leg of the second qualifying round, a prestigious duel awaited Les Parisiennes: Manchester United. For Les Rouge et Bleu, the objective was to start this first leg of a crucial double header on the right foot in order to reach the group stage of the competition.

For this European encounter,  Jocelyn Prêcheur started with a central pairing of Elisa De Almeida and Oriane Jean-François to protect Constance Picaud's goal. Sakina Karchaoui played at left-back, while Jade Le Guilly was on the right. In midfield, Korbin Albert played in front of the defence, while Jackie Groenen and captain Grace Geyoro played a little further forward. In attack, Lieke Martens and Sandy Baltimore once again accompanied Tabitha Chawinga.

The first quarter of an hour was completely one-sided, with Les Parisiennes applying continuous pressure on Manchester United's goal. Early on, Tabitha Chawinga made a run down the left side and had the first attempt for Paris. A few minutes later, it was Lieke Martens' turn to come very close to opening the scoring, but her shot ultimately missed the target. The club from the capital played very high up the pitch and won numerous duels, but Manchester United's defence held firm.

After twenty minutes of play, Sandy Baltimore managed to beat her opponent on the right side and followed up with a curled effort with her left foot. Mary Earps pushed the shot away into the path of Martens, who was well-positioned, but the Dutch player couldn't direct her header on target. At the end of a first half overwhelmingly dominated by Paris, both teams headed into the dressing rooms on level terms.

In the second half, the English team returned with better intentions, and the balance of the game gradually shifted. Paradoxically, it was at this moment that the Les Parisiennes decided to break the deadlock. Sandy Baltimore sent a long ball behind Manchester United's defence to Tabitha Chawinga. Our striker went on to face the opposing goalkeeper one-on-one and scored the first goal of the match with a left-footed effort (0-1, 54').

The goal would force Manchester United to attack as they looked for the equaliser. The highly active Geyse caused trouble for the visitors' defence on several occasions, and Constance Picaud eventually conceded a goal from a corner (1-1, 70'). Driven by their home crowd, the Manchester United players pressed on with set-pieces, but Grace Geyoro cleared the danger just in front of her own goal line ten minutes later. The two teams ultimately ended the match in a draw after an exciting game in which both sides had their moments.

Les Parisiennes will now return to league action with the visit of Stade de Reims on Matchday 4 of D1 Arkema. An encounter that will take place on Saturdsay 14 October.