On a stage where Manchester United have so often found solace in Champions League football this season, they found themselves thwarted on Wednesday night by Neymar – PSG’s great performer, play-acter and pantomime villain.
When the Brazilian is in character, he manages to encompass all these roles to great effect. So it was as he engineered a 3-1 victory for the Parisians with two goals and a man-of-the-match display.
It took just six minutes for him to combine with Kylian Mbappe to open United up and that wasn’t to be his only great act of the first half. Inevitably, as so often seems to be the way with the world’s most expensive footballer, perhaps the bigger talking point was a flashpoint as he clashed with Scott McTominay.
The Scotsman’s late challenge was followed by what appeared to be a light stamp on his opponent’s ankle. Neymar’s protestations were typically theatrical and the pair then exchanged words as the team headed down the tunnel at half-time. Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof intervened before the altercation had time to boil over.
Even when he was provoked, Neymar was visibly irritated, but managed not to see red. Ironically, that was also an accusation that could be levelled at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who failed to foresee Fred’s inevitable sending off and declined to replace him despite having the option of five substitutes.
When the midfielder was finally dismissed for a late (and probably fair) tackle on Ander Herrera, Neymar could be seen in the background appealing to the referee for a second booking.
The good, the bad and the quite brilliant
Had United fans been allowed in, antics like that would have earned him a similar reception to the one dished out to his teammate Angel Di Maria the last time these two sides met. Onlookers have often wondered when PSG’s flawed but brilliant superstar will mature, but it’s Neymar’s schoolboy mentality which also allows him to play the game with such joy.
In a campaign already blighted by matches being held behind closed doors and the tedium of VAR, football has shown a tendency to be joyless. While his showboating – or indeed any of his more unsporting behaviour – is not to everyone’s taste, the style with which he plays is still refreshing to watch.
When the time came to put the game to bed, Mbappe should have been the man to do it. Racing through on goal with his trademark pace, the 21-year-old could only put his chance wide.
Neymar’s clincher came just moments later, the forward bamboozling three United players in their own half before spraying the ball across the pitch to Mbappe. Maguire twice slipped to the floor trying to stop him in a matter of 15 seconds. The goal itself was a tap-in to cap a fine night for PSG and a disappointing one for the hosts.
Many will discuss the brilliance of his performance with a hesitancy that is understandable, but Neymar at his best is something to be enjoyed rather than sneered at.
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