Manchester City 2, Paris St Germain 1 (Champions League)
Manchester City secured a comeback win to beat Paris St Germain after Kylian Mbappe had opened the scoring for the French.
Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus scored the goals that turned over the visitors after City put on a superb team performance to beat the talented collection of individuals who rarely threatened.
City had early pressure on the ball and somehow Paris St Germain kept a clean sheet after an intense first half.
Ilkay Gündoğan hit the post while Rodri saw his header cleared off the line by Presnel Kimpembe and Riyad Mahrez forced saves from Keylor Navas in an exhilarating first period.
Pep Guardiola encouraged the crowd to get behind the team and this helped lift them beyond the visitors who seemed to only press sporadically, with their much vaunted front three setting a poor example.
John Stones was robbed by Neymar for a great chance on the break but Kylian Mbappe blazed over at the end of the first half while Ederson was only troubled by a shot from Nuno Mendes as the visitors were neutralised.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut City were hit by the inevitable second half sting when Messi got the ball on the left and sent in a cross which took a fortuitous deflection off the back of Ruben Dias towards Mbappe unmarked on the right – and he made no mistake from eight yards out.
Gabriel Jesus was brought on immediately by Pep Guardiola for Zinchenko.
And City equalised when Cancelo found Kyle Walker on the right, his cross into the centre was touched on by Nuno Mendes into Sterling’s path and the England striker stabbed home from close range to level the scores after 63 minutes.
Neymar shot wide after exchanging passes with Angel Di Maria as the game was on a knife edge after that.
But City managed to secure a deserved winner 14 minutes from the end when Bernardo Silva’s brilliant cutback was tapped in by Gabriel Jesus after a great cross from the right by Riyad Mahrez.
PLAYER RATINGS – Manchester City 2, Paris St Germain 1 (Champions League)
Ederson: 7. Early sight of the ball but PSG were offside twice in the build-up. Good save from Nuno Mendes and raced off his line to intercept a loose ball over 35 yards from his line.
Kyle Walker: 7. Early blocks to deny Neymar and a cross by Achraf Hakimi. His extra pace was a great insurance policy but his crosses were dangerous on the night and City got the equaliser off the back of one of them.
John Stones: 6. Largely unopposed and had plenty of time to pick his passes. Loss of concentration could have cost City but for undisciplined shot by Kylian Mbappe after he lost the ball.
Ruben Dias: 6. Solid defending – wasn’t overly troubled early on as PSG neglected to press him but PSG opening goal came off his back from a cross by Lionel Messi and fell to Kylian Mbappe who broke the deadlock. Robbed Messi as he shaped to shoot later to prevent PSG getting back in the game.
Joao Cancelo: 7. Defensively sound and kept his shape with the threat of Lionel Messi on his flank. Little sense of adventure early on but some great balls forward including one that released Kyle Walker to create the goal that put City back on par.
Rodri: 7. Header cleared off the line by Presnel Kimbembe. Generally solid but has been better recently.
Ilkay Gundogan: 7. Silky tricks to set up Bernardo Silva who instead created a better chance for Riyad Mahrez. Also crossed for a chance by Sterling who laid it off to Oleksandr Zinchenko. Hit the post with a rasping effort after Nuno Mendes’ poor clearance.
Bernardo Silva: 8. Up front early on and harried the PSG defence – ran all night. Nearly forced an own goal from Ander Herrera. Laid on Gabriel Jesus’ goal to put City into the lead.
Riyad Mahrez: 8. Hit the side netting after mesmerising the Paris defence, early free kick begging to be converted and crosses from the right created chance after chance for City. Had a shot headed away by Achraf Hakimi and chances tipped away by Keylor Navas.
Raheem Sterling: 8. Quiet start for the winger who battled like the other City players for the ball. Good cut back for Oleksandr Zinchenko and was on the spot to score his third goal in as many games for City – converting a deflected cross by Kyle Walker.
Oleksandr Zinchenko: 6. First start in a while and Pep let him know that vocally from the touchline. Put in the effort though and had a shot blocked by Marquinhos when Sterling found him.
Gabriel Jesus (on for Oleksandr Zinchenko, 54): 7. Slow start off the bench as a central striker but bagged a goal after the ball was put on a plate for him by Bernardo Silva. Did the hard yards too, fouling Messi
GOALS – Manchester City 2, Paris St Germain 1 (Champions League)
Man City 0, Paris St Germain 1: 50. Lionel Messi got the ball on the left and sent in a cross which took a fortuitous deflection off the back of Ruben Dias towards Kylian Mbappe unmarked on the right – and he made no mistake from eight yards out.
Man City 1, Paris St Germain 1: 63. Raheem Sterling stabbed home from close range after City pressure – Kyle Walker’s cross was touched into Sterling’s path by Nuno Mendes and the England forward did the rest.
Man City 2, Paris St Germain 1: 76. Bernardo Silva’s cutback was tapped in by Gabriel Jesus after a great cross from the right by Riyad Mahrez.
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 2, Paris St Germain 1 (Champions League)
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Mahrez, Sterling, Zinchenko (Jesus 54)
Man City subs not used: Steffen, Carson, Ake, Laporte, Fernandinho, Palmer, McAtee
Booked: Rodri 55 (foul on Leandro Paredes); Cancelo 80 (foul on Lionel Messi); Jesus 90+3 (foul on Kylian Mbappe)
Goals: Sterling 63; Jesus 76
Paris St Germain: Navas, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Mendes (Kehrer 67), Paredes, Herrera (Danilo 61), Gueye (Di Maria 67), Messi, Mbappe, Neymar
Paris St Germain subs not used: Franchi, Donnarumma, Ramos, Verratti, Icardi, Dina Ebimbe, Dagba, Wijnaldum, Diallo
Goal: Mbappe 50
Referee: Daniel Orsato