Mary Earps concedes twice in PSG defeat on miserable return to Old Trafford

Manchester United have kept their Champions League knockout stage hopes on track with a convincing win over PSG.

The build up might have been overshadowed by the return of Mary Earps, but in the end Manchester United have the win, and were undoubtedly the superior side in the match.

Other than one moment of brilliance from Olga Cormona, PSG struggled to carve out chances and create anything, while United were solid defensively and confident going forwards.

Earps’ return has not gone how she thought it would either with a mixed reception from the crowd.

PSG know that they need a point out of this to keep their Champions League campaign on track.

They have not had the best start and will not want to slip down the table further.

Because of that they’re getting a touch desperate and flying into challenges.

Should PSG lose tonight they will have no points and will have played half their league phase matches.

Marc Skinner, Manchester United women manager said he hoped her new book had not changed what people thought of the goalkeeper.

“Deep down I know Mary is a good person,” he said, reported by BBC Sport.

“I’m sure part of bringing out a book is bringing out controversial stuff that will help sell the book. I know that she has to defend that publicly.

“Knowing the human she is, I’m sure she will be getting criticism that she won’t like. It’s part of the other side of releasing a book.

“But she’s a great person, she doesn’t need me to say that really. I hope people toe the line with criticism, but I’m sure Mary understands the situation she’s put herself in.

“She’s on a platform where people are interested in what she says, so that’s a credit to her and to her hard work.

“The goalkeeper we had at the start, to the one that left, was not the same person. She transformed.”

Good evening and welcome to the Women’s Champions League live coverage, as Manchester United take on Paris St-Germain in a match that will make history, whether or not Mary Earps is in the starting XI.

It is the first time the women will play a European game at Old Trafford, but all eyes will be on the goalkeeper, who has made headlines with statements in her recent book, All In: Football, Life and Learning to be Unapolagetically Me.

In the book, Earps discussed her retirement from England just a few weeks before Euro 2025 and her relationship with her replacement Hannah Hampton, as well as Sarina Wiegman.

Earps has since backtracked on comments made in the book, saying she did not mean to “tear anyone down”, despite describing Hampton as “disruptive and unreliable” during Euro 2022.

Hampton, who Earps describes in the book mainly as her “competitor” has been defended by her club manager Sonia Bompastor and fans alike.

For the team, they have started their Champions League campaign in good form, winning their first two matches against Norway’s SK Brann and Valerenga.

But for Earps it will be her first time returning to Manchester United for 501 days, having made 125 appearances for the club.

She spent five years with the club, before leaving for PSG with a barbed comment that the club did not “align with the timing” of where Earps was at in her career - although it was the week after it was announced the women’s team would be moved into a temporary facility while the men’s was being redeveloped.

After Trent Alexander-Arnold’s reception on his return to Anfield, Earps told the BBC: “I’m probably expecting a little booing. I hope it’s a little bit but it might be a lot.”

Her reception remains to be seen, but Earps was a popular figure at Manchester United - to such an extent that a mural was painted in the city of her.

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