Man United Stun Roma, PSG Smash Champions League Record
MANCHESTER:Manchester United staged a stunning comeback to recover from its worst start to a European home game by beating Roma 3-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday. Paris Saint-Germain set a new record as the quickest team to score four goals in European soccer's top competition by powering into a 4-0 lead after 17 minutes against Villarreal on its way to a 6-0 win.
Elsewhere, Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 and Bayern Munich won 2-0 at Atletico Madrid. But the biggest drama of the night came at Old Trafford, where United's troubled season looked set to plunge deeper into crisis after going 2-0 down after 17 minutes against Roma.
It was the quickest United had conceded twice in any European game at its iconic stadium. But a rousing second-half performance saw Bruno Fernandes convert a retaken penalty and Matheus Cunha score twice before being sent off to seal a much-needed win for under fire coach Michael Carrick.
Protests turn into a party for United fans The joyous scenes at the end were in stark contrast to earlier, when furious United fans attempted to disrupt the match by throwing tennis balls on the field. The pre-planned protest was the latest show of dissent from supporters who have long-called for the club's American owners, the Glazer family, to sell their controlling stake.
A small number of balls were thrown in the 21st minute to mark 21 years since the Glazers' staged a leveraged buyout of the storied club. By then Roma had already raced to a 2-0 lead through Matias Soule's 11th-minute strike and Donyell Malen's penalty.
It could have been worse by the break, with Roma having more chances to extend the lead. But the game was turned on its head after halftime, with Fernandes' twice-taken penalty giving the home fans hope and then Cunha sealing the comeback with goals in the 83rd and 86th.
Rampant PSG sets new record PSG looks like the team to beat again as it chases down a hat trick of Champions League titles, which would see Luis Enrique's team match the feat of Real Madrid from 2016-18. Even without the injured Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the French giant had too much firepower for Villarreal, with an early goal blitz effectively putting the game to bed long before halftime at El Madrigal.
Joao Neves, Desire Doue, Senny Mayulu and Fabian Ruiz all scored inside the first 17 minutes. UEFA said it was the fastest any team had reached four goals in a Champions League game.
Ruiz and 17-year-old David Boly, four minutes after coming on as a substitute for his competition debut, added goals in the second half for PSG, which is the only team on 12 points. Bayern beats Atletico There was no goal for newly-crowned Ballon d'Or winner Harry Kane, but Bayern still prevailed at Atletico.