Paris Saint-Germain staged a remarkable comeback to beat Manchester City 4-2 in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
This was billed as the showpiece event of Matchday 7 despite both teams’ struggles in Europe, with the stakes only adding to the occasion. PSG got off to a bright start as 19-year-old Desire Doue tested Ederson’s palms early on, while City enjoyed long-term success.
Kevin De Bruyne parried Gianluigi Donnarumma before Erling Haaland easily parried the Italian’s header after neat work from Phil Foden.
The hosts’ coordinated work without the ball meant that any build-up was a slog for City and it took perfection (or a bit of luck) to get ahead. A clever pattern towards the end of the half saw Savinho fall behind, but Donnarumma saved again.
Then, just before half-time, PSG thought they had deservedly taken the lead through Achraf Hakimi, but Nuno Mendes was ruled offside after VAR intervened.
Some would say the opening period was “secret,” but the second half was nothing of the sort. City appeared to go into cruise control after the restart after two goals, with Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland scoring from close range, but PSG responded immediately and they were back on level terms after the hour.
Bradley Barcola inspired the hosts, setting up winger Ousmane Dembele after putting Matheus Nunes ahead before tapping in Doue’s shot which bounced off the crossbar past Ederson.
All the momentum was with Enrique’s side and City couldn’t settle for a 2-2 draw. The fifth goal went one way and the outstanding Joao Neves struck the decisive blow when he headed home at the back post from a PSG free-kick. Shocked, Guardiola’s side failed to react and Goncalo Ramos added sparkle to the scoreline with the final shot of the game.
City now needs a win on matchday eight to get into the playoff round.
Read the full match report of PSG vs Man City 4-2 here.
*Reviews provided by FotMob*
Position/player | Evaluation |
|---|---|
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma | 6.3/10 |
RB: Achraf Hakimi | 7.1/10 |
CB: Marquinhos (c) | 6.7/10 |
CB: Willian Pacho | 6.2/10 |
LB: Nuno Mendes | 7.6/10 |
CM: Vitinha | 8.1/10 |
CM: Joao Neves | 8.9/10 |
CM: Fabian Ruiz | 7.3/10 |
RW: Desire Doue | 7.1/10 |
CF: Kang-in Lee | 6.9/10 |
LW: Bradley Barcola | 8.7/10 |
SUB: Ousmane Dembele (46th for Kang) | 8.6/10 |
SUB: Goncalo Ramos (61′ for Doue) | 7.3/10 |
SUB: Warren Zaire-Emery (61′ for Fabian) | 6.4/10 |
SUB: Lucas Hernandez (81st for Barcola) | 6.1/10 |
Substitutes not used: Arnau Tenas (TW), Matvey Safonov (TW), Axel Tape-Kobrissa, Lucas Beraldo, Presnel Kimpembe, Yoram Zague, Senny Mayulu, Marco Asensio.
*Reviews provided by FotMob*
Position/player | Evaluation |
|---|---|
GK: Ederson | 5.1/10 |
CB: Manuel Akanji | 5.9/10 |
CB: Ruben Dias | 6.6/10 |
CB: Josko Gvardiol | 5.1/10 |
CM: Mateo Kovacic | 6.1/10 |
CM: Bernardo Silva | 4.9/10 |
RM: Matheus Nunes | 6.9/10 |
AM: Kevin De Bruyne | 6.8/10 |
AM: Phil Foden | 7.0/10 |
LM: Savinho | 6.1/10 |
CF: Erling Haaland | 7.5/10 |
SUB: Rico Lewis (46′ for Dias) | 6.7/10 |
SUB: Jack Grealish (46′ for Savinho) | 7.2/10 |
SUB: James McAtee (70′ for De Bruyne) | 6.9/10 |
SUB: Ilkay Gündogan (70th for Kovacic) | 6.0/10 |
SUB: John Stones (78′ for Nunes) | 6.1/10 |
Substitutes not used: Stefan Ortega (TW), Scott Carson (TW), Max Alleyne, Jacob Wright, Nico O’Reilly.