MANCHESTER CITY have one foot in the Champions League final after staging a stunning fightback to stun PSG in Paris.
Match Report
The first leg was at Parc des Princes and had two Italy internationals in the starting XI, Alessandro Florenzi and Marco Verratti, with Moise Kean on the bench. Neither side used a traditional centre-forward.
Florenzi had one of the first big chances of the game, his strike charged down by both defenders and teammate Verratti, then Ederson fingertipped a Neymar effort over the bar in the same move.
Moments later, PSG took the lead with a Marquinhos glancing header on an Angel Di Maria corner. It was another big Champions League goal for the former Roma defender.
Keylor Navas was alert as Bernardo Silva came sliding onto a Joao Cancelo cross at the back post, then Leandro Paredes made an acrobatic and very risky clearance off the head of Silva.
Florenzi went on a mazy run in the penalty area, but slipped and collided with Neymar, then Phil Foden stung the goalkeeper’s gloves from distance.
City were far better in the second half with a high press, but still risked conceding a second when Mbappé flashed a ball across the six-yard box inches beyond Verratti’s toes.
Kevin de Bruyne’s acrobatic effort went over the bar, but the equaliser came essentially by accident, as De Bruyne’s cross bounced awkwardly and went past everyone into the far top corner.
City turned the game around completely, as the Riyad Mahrez free kick burst through the defensive wall, as Presnel Kimpembe jumped the wrong way.
Things got even worse for the hosts, as Idrissa Gueye received a straight red card for a ridiculous foul with studs on Ilkay Gundogan’s Achilles tendon.