Gabriel Jesus found the winner for Manchester City as they defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. Man City deserved their victory after putting in a brilliant performance that easily could have yielded more goals on another day.
PSG took the lead through Kylian Mbappe in the 50th minute but Pep Guardiola’s side fought back through Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus to secure top spot in Group A.
It was an excellent 90 minutes of football as two of the best teams in the world faced off in Manchester. Some of the world’s global stars took center stage in what was an end-to-end match, filled with drama from the off. So, let’s get into our player ratings.
Bernardo Silva is giving Man City fans everything on and off the pitch ? pic.twitter.com/PN0bRWU85Y
— GOAL (@goal) November 24, 2021
Manchester City
Ederson – 6
Did not have much to do here as PSG had just two shots on target.
Kyle Walker – 7
Looked fairly solid at the back throughout and was influential in the build up to City’s equaliser.
John Stones – 6.5
PSG’s front three were always gonna create chances here and Stones put in an average performance.
Ruben Dias – 6.5
Solid first half display and was accurate from the back. Played fairly average overall.
Joao Cancelo – 8
Sat narrowly when defending well early on and once again put in a very impressive display. Played a number of cross field balls over to Mahrez, was sound defensively and was also a threat down the left flank. A serious talent who just oozes quality.
Ilkay Gundogan – 7.5
The ball fell to the German inside the area and he nearly gave City the lead but his strike hit the post. Looked good going forward and was influential throughout the evening. Created two chances and completed 97% of his passes.
Rodri – 7.5
Won a great header in the box early on at the back post following a Mahrez free-kick which nearly opened the scoring early on. Sat deep as always and controlled the tempo, recycling possession. Caught a couple of times in possession which led to dangerous attacking moves by PSG but played an excellent ball into Walker for the equalizer.
Oleksandr Zinchenko – 6.5
Occupied a central midfield role and had a good opportunity when his effort from inside the area was blocked superbly by Marquinhos in the first half. Fairly solid game here before being subbed off for Gabriel Jesus.
Riyad Mahrez – 8.5
The Algerian was fantastic here tonight and was a real threat throughout, creating chance after chance for City. Delivered some good crosses and balls into the box from the right flank, with the majority of his play seeing him cut in onto his left. Picked the ball up in some nice spaces down the right flank and linked-up well with Bernardo Silva for a good opportunity which deflected over in the first half. Played a key role in City’s second goal when he put a fantastic inswinging ball into the box for Bernardo Silva.
Bernardo Silva – 7.5
Linked-up well with Mahrez a few times throughout and showed some good touches, also assisting Gabriel Jesus for the winner. Very strong performance and also completed all of his passes.
Raheem Sterling – 7
Linked-up well down the left flank and got past Hakimi a couple of times. Sterling played his part here but it was his team mates that stole the show.
Substitutions
Gabriel Jesus – 8
Looked lively when he came on and caused PSG a threat. Put City 2-1 up with less than 15 minutes remaining as they came from a goal down to win.
MBAPPE PUTS PSG UP 1-0 OVER CITY! pic.twitter.com/nttk8w5rgL
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 24, 2021
Paris Saint-Germain
Keylor Navas – 6.5
Despite City pressure early on, he did not have to make many saves. Decent save to put Mahrez’s effort behind the post. Made a couple of decent saves in the second half and could not do much about either of City’s goals.
Achraf Hakimi – 6.5
Made a crucial deflection with his head to deny an effort from Mahrez in the first half. Drove forward as PSG looked to counter down the right flank and advanced well at times. Fairly average defensively.
Marquinhos – 7
Busy night for the Brazilian who made a few decent blocks and key headers.
Presnel Kimpembe – 7.5
Cleared the ball away from a dangerous header by Rodri early on and looked solid. Couple of good headers and challenges.
Nuno Mendes – 7
Struggled a little up against Mahrez but did make a couple of good challenges. Also ventured forward when given the opportunity. Drove forward into the box with an effort on goal in the first half that was comfortably saved by Ederson. Caught out a little defensively and sat narrow as Mahrez utilised the space out wide. Played a role in the PSG goal after attacking well down the left flank on the overlap.
Leandro Paredes – 7
Tracked back well after Herrera lost the ball in the first half and won the most duels in the match with nine. Was also accurate in possession with 95% pass accuracy.
Ander Herrera – 6.5
Dispossessed in a dangerous position in his own half early on but was involved in the goal with good link-up play in and around the box. Was forced off due to injury after an hour.
Idrissa Gueye – 6
Fairly average performance by Gueye before being subbed off for Angel Di Maria.
Lionel Messi – 7.5
Couple of nice touches in the first half but was not involved too much. However, was influential in the PSG goal with some excellent link-up play with Neymar and Herrera and also put the cross in for Mbappe. Influential early on in the second half, creating chances but filtered out towards the end.
Kylian Mbappe – 7.5
Looked to utilise his pace on the counter but did not have much going for him in the first quarter of the game. Had a good chance late on in the first half but his curling effort flew over the bar. Scored the opening goal with a close range finish, scoring his ninth goal of the season. More involved early on in the second half.
Neymar – 7
Won the ball back well to start a PSG counter attack and played in Mbappe in the first half. Looked a threat at times on the counter and also had a glorious chance to retake the lead, playing a good one two with Di Maria but he put his effort wide of the left post.