Man United sign off tour with PSG defeat

Manchester United have been denied a fourth consecutive pre-season victory as they ended their tour of the United States with a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

Louis van Gaal’s side started the game at Soldier Field stadium the better of the two sides, but fell behind on 25 minutes when Blaise Matuidi capitalised on hesitancy among the United rearguard to score against the run of play.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic orchestrated PSG’s second 10 minutes before half-time, initiating a counter attack before steering Maxwell’s pin-point cross beyond David de Gea from close range.

And those two strikes proved to be enough for the Ligue 1 champions as they signed off on their tour of the United States by pipping United to the International Champions Cup crown.

United had been aiming to maintain their 100% record after registering wins over Club America, San Jose Earthquakes and European champions Barcelona in their three previous games.

However, United were undone by two goals from PSG which highlighted the defensive frailty of van Gaal’s squad, which has been bolstered by several high-profile signings this summer.

United began promisingly, handling PSG’s high-pressure game in the opening exchanges and knocking the ball around comfortably.

New signing Memphis Depay was presented with the game’s first real opening after Wayne Rooney picked him out on the egde of the box on 16 minutes, but the Dutchman fired a wild shot wide of Kevin Trapp’s goal.

United had the ball in the Trapp’s net on 22 minutes, but Juan Mata calm finish after collecting Daley Blind’s through ball was ruled out for offside.

And three minutes later PSG had opened the scoring. An aimless long ball up field caused havoc in United backline, with neither Phil Jones nor Luke Shaw able to prevent Matuidi poking the ball beyond the on-rushing De Gea, reports Sky Sports.

It was two goals nine minutes later when Ibrahimovic rounded off a well-worked counter attack – which he had started himself – to double their Ligue 1 side’s lead.

Having picked up the ball in midfield, Ibrahimovic ran at the United back four, slipped the ball to Maxwell on the left wing before ghosting in between Jones and Blind for a simple finish.

Van Gaal freshened his side up at the interval, with Morgan Schneiderlin, Andreas Pereira and Sam Johnstone coming on at the break.

The youthful exuberance of the new additions had an affect momentarily, with United started the second half strong, but this was soon addressed by PSG manager Laurent Blanc.

The inclusion of Marquinhos and David Luiz added solidity to the PSG defence and United struggled to create anything clear-cut as the French champions clinched the pre-season tournament.