UCL: PSG defeat Man City in six-goal thriller

Paris Saint-Germaine provided a classic second-half performance to secure a 4-2 win over Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night at Parc des Princes.

The English champions entered the match after an emphatic victory against Ipswich in the Premier League.

After a stalemate in the first half, Jack Grealish and Erling Halaand put City two goals up with ten minutes of the second half, only for the hosts to come around and record a 4-2 win.

PSG would have wished for this fixture on the precipice of an early European exit. Hosting a resurgent Manchester City was far from the ideal opener to a season-defining seven days. 

But this game eventually brought out the best in Luis Enrique’s men, who had been misfiring in attack.

The hosts dominated possession without showing any incisiveness, but there were promising breaks down the flanks for Bradley Barcola and Désiré Doué. Their challenge was the lack of any identifiable center-forward in the line-up.

This left the hosts with only stale options of keep-ball around the box and aimless crosses to defend, while Gianluigi Donnarumma was equal to efforts from Erling Haaland and Savinho when the visitors countered. 

PSG thought they had taken the lead on the stroke of half-time through Achraf Hakimi, but the goal was ruled out after a seemingly microscopic offside call on Nuno Mendes’ knee initial run.

Enrique eventually brought on a match-fit, Ousmane Dembélé, who eventually gave them a lifeline for their comeback.

The substitute immediately impacted when he beat Nuno Mendes down the wing.

City opened the goal chart as Akanji found Bernardo Silva in the box for an effort which Gianluigi Donnarumma parried as Marquinhos’ deflection fell to a wide-open Grealish to score his first goal in over a year. 

City scored the second, and Donnarumma was similarly helpless when Haaland was on hand at the back post to turn in a shot Neves had deflected. 

Dembélé reduced the deficit that began the turnaround as Barcola set up the former Barcelona man for an open-goal finish.

Barcola restored parity on the hour mark with a first-time shot when he latched into the rebound from Désiré Doué’s shot against the bar, which bobbled past an already-beaten Ederson and into the bottom corner. 

 João Neves then completed the turnaround with a lung-bursting midfield performance just over ten minutes from time by meeting Vitinha’s free-kick with a powerful header at the back post.

 Gonçalo Ramos made it four for the hosts in stoppage time. The goal, initially ruled out for offside, was confirmed after a lengthy VAR check, sealing the result for the Ligue 1 champions.

With this win, the French champions move into the top 24 at the expense of City, while the Citizens can still go through with a win over Club Brugge next week.

Although Les Parisiens’ spot in the knockouts is not yet guaranteed, they will need to get a good result ahead of next week’s trip to Stuttgart.