Paris Saint-Germain secured a vital three points towards their UEFA Champions League group qualification as Lionel Messi scored his first goal for the Parisians in a 2-0 victory at home to Manchester City.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side sat back and defended astutely as they hit City on the counter-attack to avenge their 2-1 defeat in last seasons Champions League semi-final at the Parc des Princes.
Messi made his return to the starting lineup after missing the last two league games for PSG and the little magician certainly made his mark deep into the second half to seal an important three points in Group A.
Let’s take a look at the player ratings from the match:
Only four players have scored 5+ goals against Pep Guardiola's Man City:
✅ Jamie Vardy (9)
✅ Son Heung-min (7)
✅ Mohamed Salah (6)
✅ Lionel Messi (5)Only one of them doesn't play in the same league. ? pic.twitter.com/EUOxrRDkiX
— William Hill (@WilliamHill) September 28, 2021
Paris Saint-Germain
Gianluigi Donnarumma – 8
The Euro 2020 Player of the Tournament marked his first Champions League appearance with a clean sheet in what was a fine performance from Italy’s number one. Donnarumma made a series of fine saves to deny City and showed a certain swagger in between the sticks, rushing off his line often and doing his job well throughout.
Achraf Hakimi – 7.5
Hakimi performed well at right-back and looked to push high down the right on the counter. Contained Jack Grealish well and also played a role in the first goal, combining well with Mbappe down the right flank.
Marquinhos – 8
Had a very solid performance at center-back as PSG were put under pressure for most of the game. Made five clearances in the first half and some important headers, as well as making some key challenges.
Presnel Kimpembe – 7.5
A busy night for the French center-half and joined his partner in making five clearances in the first half. Distributed the ball well from the back when needed and was not challenged too much.
Nuno Mendes – 6.5
Struggled defensively in the first half up against Riyad Mahrez as the Algerian winger got the better of him to create danger. Improved in the second half, however.
Ander Herrera – 6.5
Battled hard as always in the center of midfield but it was his midfield partners who were the highlights here.
Idrissa Gueye – 9
A fantastic display by the Senegalese international and opened the scoring with a superb finish early in the first half. Helped out Mendes defensively and was seemingly everywhere, making important interceptions and challenges. Boasted a pass success rate of 91% as well as winning seven duels and three tackles.
Marco Verratti – 8
The Italian had a fine performance in his return from injury here, sitting deeper than Gueye and Herrera, dictating the tempo. Verratti may be small, standing at 5’5, but he battled hard, winning challenges to protect the defence.
Lionel Messi – 7
Leo will steal the headlines with a superb goal in the 74th minute, cutting in onto his left foot before playing a one-two with Mbappe and curling an effort past Ederson. The Argentine was hardly involved for the rest of the match but it’s the moments of magic that he can produce that make him stand out.
Kylian Mbappe – 7.5
Mbappe’s pace is always a threat and PSG looked to use that well as they hit on the counter. Created the most chances in the match for PSG with three, including the assist for Messi’s goal and also played a big part in the first.
Neymar – 6
It was not the Brazilian’s finest performance here as he struggled to make an impact on the game. However, he did track back well as Messi and Mbappe lead the counter-attacks but he failed to create any chances and also lost possession four times.
Substitutions
Georginio Wijnaldum – N/A
Danilo Pereira – N/A
The stage is set ?
? #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/DBJ77eIH0g
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 28, 2021
Manchester City
Ederson – 6
Was good with his feet as always but could do very little about the well-struck goals he conceded.
Kyle Walker – 6.5
Sat deeper for City most of the time as Joao Cancelo looked to attack down the left. Did not have much to do defensively in what was a fairly solid performance.
Ruben Dias – 6
Did not have too much to do with City creating the majority of the chances throughout. Was accurate from the back with his passing.
Aymeric Laporte – 5.5
Laporte was largely at fault for the first goal as he made the error of sitting back instead of going out to close Mbappe, leaving the Frenchman with plenty of room to put a ball across goal.
Joao Cancelo – 7
The Portuguese full-back had another strong performance, pushing high down the left to give Grealish support. Also attempted a few good balls in behind the PSG defence and had the most touches in the match.
Bernardo Silva – 7
Offered support to the right of midfield for Riyad Mahrez as Walker often sat deep. Hit the woodwork after Raheem Sterling’s header but should have scored to draw the scores level. Still created two chances and had a 90% pass accuracy.
Rodri – 7.5
The Spaniard had another solid performance at the heart of the City midfield, completing the most passes in the match with 73 and also making the most tackles with four. Battled well in the midfield and also played some nice passes forward into the channels.
Kevin De Bruyne – 7
De Bruyne was creative for City, having created the most chances in the match with three, but lacked a bit of extra quality tonight as he struggled to penetrate the PSG defence. His highlight was his wonderful outside the foot cross for Sterling whose header hit the bar.
Riyad Mahrez – 7.5
Mahrez looked dangerous, particularly in the first half, and caused Mendes many problems, cutting in onto his left foot from the right. Won the most duels in the match with nine as well as creating two chances.
Raheem Sterling – 6.5
Isolated as he occupied the center-forward role and struggled to get involved for most of the match against a resolute PSG defence. Managed to get into space to get on the end of a De Bruyne cross but his header hit the bar.
Jack Grealish – 6.5
Had a solid performance down the left but was quite one dimensional, with Hakimi dealing well with him cutting in onto his right foot. Still created two chances in the game before being subbed off for Foden with just over 20 minutes to go.
Substitutions
Phil Foden – 6
Looked lively when he came on and added a different aspect down the left to Grealish, looking to supply balls into the box with his left foot.