Bryan Mbeumo salvages a draw against the French champions, but a fresh injury blow to Mason Mount underscores the urgent need for midfield reinforcements this summer.
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Manchester United drew 1-1 with Paris Saint-Germain in the Red Devils' fourth pre-season game, with goals from Ibrahim Mbaye and Bryan Mbeumo ensuring the scores stayed level.
PSG took an early lead within two minutes with a brilliant attacking display, as Dro Fernandez on the left found Mbaye, who made a brilliant run to sneak away from Ayden Heaven and tap it home.
Just after the half-hour mark, Mbeumo equalised for United. Amad stole the ball off Willian Pacho and then laid it across goal for the Cameroonian to score with a low, driven shot into the bottom-right corner.
Early on in the second half, Mbeumo drove into the box and cut inside before attempting to curl the ball past Matvéi Safónov, but the keeper made a big save.
In the 70th minute, substitute Bruno Fernandes pinged a world-class ball from inside his own half over the top for Joshua Zirkzee who was brought down by Safónov before he could do anything.
Here are five things we learnt from this fixture.
#1 - New midfielder critical
Before this game, a lot of reports coming out of the club indicated that Mason Mount was beginning to be seen as a versatile midfielder who could fill the gap as a deep-lying playmaker in case the club did not sign a third midfielder.
However, this plan has seemingly come crashing down as the Englishman came off injured inside 20 minutes. While the injury has not been confirmed, the fact that it was an off-the-ball incident suggests that it could be muscle-related.
With the Champions League increasing the number of games we have to play, more injuries should be expected and having a third midfielder brought in this summer would help the squad cope with the rigorous demands.
Manchester United drew 1-1 against PSG in their fourth match of pre-season.roundtable.ioPlayer Ratings: Man Utd 1-1 PSG As Tielemans Makes Debut
Manchester United drew 1-1 against PSG in their fourth match of pre-season.
#2 - Crosses an issue?
While this is only pre-season, there has been one concerning way of conceding that is beginning to become a pattern.
Both in this game and in the first game against Wrexham, both goals conceded were following the left-winger picking the ball down the left-hand side and playing a low-driven cross across the box for someone to tap home.
The goal conceded against Atletico Madrid was a freakish cross that turned into a shot that caught Heaton out. But again, it was yet another cross that caused an issue for the club.
#3 - Respond well to setbacks
Again, with this pre-season, the tempo is nowhere near the same as it would be in a competitive fixture. But one thing that the Red Devils have shown is the ability to respond to going a goal down.
In this fixture and against Atletico, the club conceded very early with shaky starts. But in both games, the team not only responded with goals but also took complete control of the game.
PSG were reduced to very few major opportunities, bar efforts from range, as Michael Carrick's side were quick to not only sniff out danger but also remained compact to prevent PSG from being able to play the ball quickly around them.
#4 - Becoming less reliant on Fernandes
After four games of pre-season, with Bruno Fernandes only appearing for the first time in a 25-minute cameo today, Manchester United have shown they can be creative in his absence.
Whether it's been through suffocating the opposition and forcing them into mistakes like Amad on Pacho today, or controlling position and making the game be played to our tempo, these are all positive signs.
Of course, the captain is our most creative player, and he showed today with a brilliant first-time cross-field pass to Zirkzee. But it's good to see the club has found a way to be creative without him, as it gives us scope to rest the 31-year-old if needed.
#5 - Tielemans adds a new dynamic
Youri Tielemans made his Manchester United debut when he came on in the 65th minute, and despite the short cameo, his quality is there for all to see.
He was able to pick up the ball from any position, whether it was from the goalkeeper, defence or teammates, and was able to bypass the PSG press. This new dynamic means the club will be less reliant on Mainoo constantly having to play this role, and Fernandes won't need to drop deep all the time to help progress the ball.
With this skill set, you can expect United to be much better at keeping and recycling possession, especially against teams that prefer having less of the ball.