De Bruyne And Mahrez Lead City Past PSG
Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez both scored in the second half to give Pep Guardiola’s side the advantage over their French counterparts following their semi-finals first leg encounter.
Manchester City left it late to breeze past Paris Saint Germain in their champions league semi-finals first leg encounter at Parc des Princes in Paris. The Parisians shot into the lead in the first half when Marquinhos headed into the net to give his side the lead inside 15 minutes of play. But it took seven brilliant minutes from the Citizens to take the shine away from the Parisian.
Ederson was alert to deny Neymar before the opener and Keylor Navas and his opposite number were busy in the first half to help their respective sides as they headed off for the break with Marquinhos’ goal being the only difference. City did find it difficult breaking behind the PSG defence in the first half but nonetheless, Silva and Foden tested Navas.
City came out from the break brighter and penned PSG to their own half, forcing them to play out from the back. City’s pressure yielded results soon after the hour mark when Zinchenko in for Joao Cancelo laid it off for De Bruyne to slot past Navas to level the scores.
One goal soon became two and from a losing position, City took the lead. Phil Foden won a free-kick just outside the box and Riyad Mahrez stepped up to curl the ball in-between Paredes and Kimpembe and into the net. From a losing position, they led and PSG chased.
As if going behind and handing Manchester City two precious away goals is not enough, PSG added more misery to their night when Idrissa Gueye got sent off for a foul on Gundogan. Pochettino made changes to stabilize his side after going a man down as he brought on Danilo Pereira for Di Maria and with 10 minutes left to play, they had a mountain to climb.
Manchester City held on to clinch the victory and now head back to the Etihad with a big advantage ahead of the second leg in a week’s time. For now, their attention turns to Premier League action where they will host Crystal Palace and could wrap up the title if results go their way. PSG meanwhile will host Lens as they struggle to defend their Ligue 1 title. But if they are to repeat their last season’s European success, then Pochettino must out-think his Manchester City counterpart and hope his charges come alive to cause a shock at the Etihad.
By: Clifford Adumbire | myactiveonline.com
