Manchester City delivered a 2-1 win in a dominant performance against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in a group stage Champions League match at Etihad Stadium last Wednesday.
The result means Man City will finish first in Group A, and qualify for the Round of 16. PSG will also qualify in second place.
“Very happy with the three points,” Man City’s Bernardo Silva said. “Very happy that we qualified first in the group which is very important for us, and very happy because our fans deserve a good performance, a good game.”
Their victory was by no means certain. While Man City held possession on PSG’s side of the pitch for almost the entirety of the first half, their lack of control on the ball resulted in them failing to score against a lax defence in the first five minutes. The away team was then able to marshal a defence which shut their opponents out for the first half.
PSG secured their first and only goal in the second half when Kylian Mbappé scored 50 minutes in on a counter-attack. But Man City mounted a comeback with two goals: one fired in by Raheem Sterling at 60 minutes, and another flawlessly finished by Gabriel Jesus at 72 minutes.
Both goals used a series of quick passes to disorientate the stalwart PSG defence. After this, the Parisian team could not regain the ball or the lead.
The match came amid talk that PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino is considering taking over the manager position at Man City rivals Manchester United, and a win at Etihad may have made him an even stronger candidate.
Pochettino said yesterday that discussion about this was a distraction.
“Rumours are there, we need to live with that,” he said. “We are so focused, giving 100 per cent to get out [the] best from the club and the players.”
