Man City vs PSG: Jesus Scores Winner as Citizens Beat Parisians in Thriller

Man City vs PSG: Jesus Scores Winner as Citizens Beat Parisians in Thriller

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:52 PM
  • City were brilliant as they exerted revenge on PSG for a 2-0 defeat against the same opponents in September
  • The home side had to come from behind after PSG took the lead through Kylian Mbappe
  • Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus scored in the second half to ensure the Citizens advanced to the last 16 as group winners

Manchester City came from behind to secure a famous 2-1 win over a star-studded Paris Saint Germain to qualify for the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday, November 24.

Man City vs PSG
Gabriel Jesus's goal was enough to complete Manchester City's comeback. Photo by Matt McNulty.
Source: Getty Images

The Citizens put up an outstanding display in what was a thrilling end-to-end football match as Pep Guardiola’s boys ensured they advanced to the knockout stages as group winners.

Mauricio Pochettino, who has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, will be disappointed his side could not hold on to the lead, but in all honesty, City were fully deserving of their victory as they were superb on the night.

How it happened

Despite PSG carrying arguably the most potent attack in world football comprising Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, it was Manchester City who looked the most threatening in the opening exchanges.

A combination of dominant possession and aggressive pressing when they lost the ball proved a bit too much for PSG, who struggled to fend off the home side, who pretty much smothered PSG in the first half-hour.

The only thing missing, though, was a goal, but City could easily have gone ahead in the first half, but Keylor Navas did well to deny Riyad Mahrez, while Ilkay Gundogan hit the outside of the post after being set up nicely.

Mahrez also saw another effort expertly nodded over by Achraf Hakimi when it looked like the Algerian would eventually break the deadlock.

PSG turned up the style in the second half, and they took their first solid chance of the night thanks to 22-year old Mbappe.

The Frenchman scored his 9th goal of the season after being set up nicely by Lionel Messi following some impressive build-up where Neymar was also involved.

PSG ‘s lead would only last so long, however, as City in typical crisp fashion, levelled matters with some impressive switch passes which saw Joao Cancelo square the ball to the box for Raheem Sterling to toe-poke an equaliser.

With the game finely poised at 1-1, both sides showed no fear going forward and this time, it was PSG who missed a gilt-edged chance as Neymar somehow placed the ball wide after some good build-up saw him one-on-one with Ederson.

The visitors were made to pay for that miss with 14 minutes to go as City went forward again and this time, it was Gabriel Jesus who got at the end of another sweeping move from Pep Guardiola’s side.

In the other Group A game, Leipzig thrashed Club Brugge 5-0 , meaning both PSG and Man City automatically advanced to the last 16, but the Parisians would have to settle for runners up in the group.

All English sides in the last 16

Man City's win over PSG confirmed that all English sides will be in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Chelsea saw off Juventus on Tuesday, while Manchester United left it late to beat Villareal 2-0 on the same day to finish as group winners.

Liverpool, on Wednesday, also ensured they won their group after a routine 2-0 win over FC Porto maintained their 100% record in their group.

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Rene Otinga photo
Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.
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