Axel Tuanzebe gives sparkling performance in Paris to provide Man United with a welcome...

[ASFN Admin]

It was the sort of unenviable position defenders have nightmares about: Kylian Mbappe on your outside charging into the penalty area. If you are quick enough to catch him, and there are not many in that category, there is the knowledge that the slightest touch could bring him down. Fail to get close and you are at the mercy of one of the most formidable strikers in world football. When Axel Tuanzebe got the nod from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that he was starting against Paris Saint-Germain, it must have occurred to the Manchester United defender that there might be a moment in the game when he found himself in such a sticky spot. In the 34th minute, that moment arrived. For an experienced, match-fit defender, it would have been a real challenge. For an inexperienced centre-half playing in his first competitive game for 10 months in a makeshift back three, it was daunting in the extreme, but Tuanzebe did not panic. He kept pace with Mbappe while never allowing his concentration to wander, his eyes fixed on the problem in hand and then, when the opportunity presented itself, he got his shoulder in and his foot across and retrieved the ball cleanly. It was a superb piece of defending, a snapshot of his excellent night’s work, and one from which you could see the 22 year-old draw confidence.

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