VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS PSG VS MANCHESTER CITY DOWN
Played on 6.4.2016 at Parc des Princes, Paris in the 2015/16 Champions League season
It is advantage Manuel Pellegrini and Manchester City after they draw 2-2 away in Paris in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal
Sequence of goals in PSG Manchester City 2:2
PSG Man City 0-1 De Bruyne 38
PSG Man City 1-1 Ibrahimovic 41
PSG Man City 2-1 Rabiot 59
PSG Man City 2-2 Fernandinho 72
It was billed as “El Gasico”, the battle between money rich Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and the first ever meeting between the two sides at this level following their goalless stalemate in the erstwhile UEFA Cup back in 2008/09.
Man City and Manuel Pellegrini would have been the happier side at the final whistle after they came away with a 2-2 draw from Parc des Princes.
PSG, with the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic were expected to pose a massive threat to City’s suspect back four, who were seen as cannon fodder in the injury-enforced absence of the imperious Vincent Kompany. It was the home side who had the opportunity to score first with Serbian referee Milorad Mazic pointing to the spot after Bacari Sagna was adjudged to have fouled David Luiz in the box.
Up stepped Ibra, but Joe Hart, back from injury, produced a fantastic save to stop his penalty. It was a crucial moment in the game- had the penalty gone in, PSG would been all over an under-confident Man City side. Instead Hart’s save kept City in the game, and more importantly disrupted Ibrahimovic’s momentum- he went on to miss a few clear cut opportunities that he would have scored from on another day.
England are considered the Home Nations’ best chance of silverware at the upcoming Euros by pundits and fans alike- a look at the football news section at Bethut.co.uk tells us that the odds on the Three Lions are significantly lower than those on Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. It’s not without reason- with players like Hart who has already proved his worth at the biggest stage (remember his performance against Barca and the crucial save against Borussia Monchengladbach?), available at his disposal, Roy Hodgson will be hoping that his boys can produce the country’s best ever showing at the Euros.
However Hart, one could argue, was partially at fault for City’s equaliser. He could have given the ball to Sagna on the right, but instead chose to pass it straight to Fernando, who with Ibrahimovic hovering down on him, panicked and attempted a poor clearance that deflected off the Swede and into the net. In Hart’s defence, you can clearly see him pointing right and instructing Fernando to pass to Sagna, but the Brazilian ignored him.
PSG went ahead when Hart saved Cavani’s header from a corner, but with Fernandinho ball watching, Rabiot, a former City player himself, was on hand to tuck away the rebound.
However Fernandinho made up for his error by scoring an equaliser for City later in the game, and what a crucial goal that may turn out to be!
City now have two away goals, and PSG have some serious work ahead of the second leg. Blaise Matuidi and David Luiz are both suspended for the trip to Manchester next week, and coach Laurent Blanc has also said that the game will come too soon for the injured duo of Javier Pastore and Marco Verratti.
Golden opportunity for City we think, they’re definitely in the drivers’ seat to make their first ever Champions League semifinal next week. The Premier League is all but out of reach, and Pellegrini can focus all his resources on the Champions League as he aims to pick up one final title before handing over the reigns to Pep Guardiola.