PSG beat Manchester City 2-0 as Messi scores his maiden goal

Idrissa Gueye opened the scoring in the eighth minute before Messi sealed the victory in the 74th minute with his trademark move.

PSG players in a file photo; Credit: Twitter/@PSG_English
By Sreejith C R | Sep 29, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Lionel Messi scored his maiden goal for Paris Saint-Germain in the 2-0 win over Manchester City. The Champions League group stage fixture at Parc des Princes on Tuesday turned out to be a historical one as the Argentine legend scored his first goal for a club other than Barcelona. Meanwhile PSG boss Maurico Pochettino must have been relieved with the result as the French club came under a lot of criticism after their 1-1 draw against Club Brugge in their previous Champions League match. Idrissa Gueye opened the scoring in the eighth minute before Messi sealed the victory in the second half.

Early in the match, Kylian Mbappe played a very good cut back from the right side of penalty area after he was played through by Hakmi. Although Neymar made space for himself in front of goal, he failed to connect to the ball. But Gueye was lurking behind and slotted the ball into the top corner to take a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes from the half-hour mark, at the other end, Kevin de Bruyne’s brilliant cross from the left with the outside of his right foot found Raheem Sterling inside the box. But the Englishman’s header from close range hit the crossbar and then Bernardo Silva’s attempt from the rebound also was denied by the crossbar. Silva should have done better. That was the closest City came to scoring in the entire match.

Gueye released Mbappe with a precise through ball and the Frenchman dribbled forward before cutting it back for Ander Herrera on the edge of the box. But the Spanish midfielder’s shot was comfortably tipped over the crossbar by Manchester City custodian Ederson. Meanwhile from the subsequent corner, Mbappe displayed good footwork to get past Rúben Dias to deliver a cut back but Marquinhos couldn’t get a connection to it.

Two minutes from the break, De Bruyne’s corner kick found Dias at the far post but his header was saved by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. After the break, the visitors pushed for a goal. De Bruyne tested Donnarumma in the 55th minute.

Messi’s goal

In the 74th minute, Messi extended the lead with his trademark goal. The 34-year-old collected the ball in the middle of the park, dribbled forward before playing a one-two with Mbappe on the edge of the box and then slotted the ball past Ederson into the top corner of the goal with his golden left foot.

The animated celebrations from the six time Ballon d’or winner showed how badly he wanted this goal . He was on a four-game goal drought, which is not usual by his high standards. Hopefully this would be the beginning of the bigger things to come at the French capital.

Neymar almost got in after sprinting away from Walker but ended up side netting his shot. In the stoppage time, Mahrez had his freekick saved by Donnarumma. It was a frustrating night for Pep Guardiola and his side. 

Although the English side created more opportunities they weren’t clinical up front whereas PSG took their chances. Pochettino’s side mostly relied on counter-attacks whereas City as usual played possession football.

Manchester City, who were the beaten finalists from last season’s Champions League, started the match without a proper striker. The three-man forward line consisted of Jack Grealish, Sterling and Mahrez, all three are winger or Attacking midfielders. Not playing a proper striker against a quality opposition might have cost them.

Meanwhile the win helped PSG to top of Group A with four points from two games whereas Manchester City are placed third with three points. 





Related Post

HIGHLIGHTS

Buzzwords