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What Romelu Lukaku said to Presnel Kimpembe after the final whistle

Sudarshan Venkatesan
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Lukaku to Kimpembe

What Romelu Lukaku said to Presnel Kimpembe after the final whistle is a touch of class.

Manchester United made a historic comeback against Paris Saint Germain at their own backyard on Wednesday. With a 3-1 win in the second leg, the Red Devils became the first English side to overturn a 2-0 lead at the away venue in the history of the Champions League history.

Romelu Lukaku scored inside two minutes to give a glimmer of hope for the visitors, but those were soon rescinded when Juan Bernat bagged from Kylian Mbappe’s excellent ball ten minutes later. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer found it hard to break down the resilient defence of PSG until Gianluigi Buffon spilled the ball which provided the Belgian to tap the ball in and restore the lead.

Thomas Tuchel’s side had plenty of possession during the second half, but they were not able to make it count because of the failure to find the back of the net in the second part of the game which put the hosts on severe pressure to deal with Solskjaer’s side for the last ten minutes.

The substitute Diago Dalot hit the ball from outside the box which diverted off PSG’s defender Presnel Kimpembe inside the penalty box. The referee decided to have a look at Video Assistant Referee (VAR) which suggested that the Frenchman was leaving his hand out to block the shot.

It was the moment of controversy as many pundits and ex-players vocalized that the defender’s hands were in a natural position when the ball hit his hand. However, the referee decided otherwise which enhanced Marcus Rashford to take the penalty and win the game for the Red Devils in the injury time.

After the game, Kimpembe was all alone on the pitch with hands over his hand. The Frenchman looked devastated and was out of his words.

Romelu Lukaku made a touch of class by comforting him after the final whistle rather than celebrating with his teammates.

According to the French football outlet RMC Sport, the Manchester United striker was seen telling Kimpembe after the final whistle.

“That’s it, this is the nature of football. There are times when you learn, even if you’re world champion.” said Lukaku.

That was a great message from Lukaku to his opponent after the game.

Kimpembe was part of the World Cup squad which went on to win the trophy at Russia last year. However, this moment of lapse will take time for the French International to come over even though they might cruise in for the Ligue 1 this season.

Two-goal striker Lukaku enjoyed playing alongside England international Rashford.

He said in the post-match interview: “It was good, it was good. We were confident the day before the game. We knew we could do the business.

“We played together against Southampton and again today and it was a pleasure to play with him today. We both scored, so we’re happy.”

Rashford, when asked what he was thinking as he stepped up to take the penalty, told BT Sport 2: “Just keep a cool head. They are the type of thing you practice every day and I wanted to take it.

“That was probably the hardest thing, the wait before, but it’s all part of the game and those moments, that’s what we live for.”

Rashford continued: “Everything seemed to be against us but we’re used to surviving in these moments. Today just proved that one more time.

“We go forward from this game now, keep pushing and better ourselves.

“It’s a beautiful thing (seeing the club’s youngsters on the pitch).

“We have 10 players injured but for them, it’s an opportunity for them to come forward and they’ve all done that.”

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