Lionel Messi scored his first Paris Saint-Germain goal on Tuesday and it was a significant one, helping put Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to the sword in a 2-0 Champions League win for the French club.
Messi’s goal was both stunning and also so typical of the Argentine, as he burst forward from the right and played a one-two with Kylian Mbappe on the edge of the box, holding off Aymeric Laporte as he sent a first-time strike high into the net.
It raised the roof at the Parc des Princes, as PSG supporters celebrated seeing the six-time Ballon d’Or winner open his account for the club he joined in August.
Idrissa Gana Gueye, arguably PSG’s best player this season, had given the home side an early lead to leave City chasing the game.
Guardiola’s side, who beat the French club in the semifinals last season before losing the final, dominated large spells of the match in between the two goals, but their finishing let them down.
They will especially rue the moment in the first half when Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva each hit the bar in quick succession, but City will still be confident of progressing to the last 16.
PSG and Club Brugge, who won 2-1 at RB Leipzig on Tuesday, are level on four points at the top of Group A, with City on three having beat the Germans 6-3 a fortnight ago.
The Premier League champions will hope to take their revenge on PSG when they meet in the reverse fixture, but this was a night for the Qatar-owned rivals of Abu Dhabi-backed City to bask in the glow of having Messi.
The former Barcelona man had missed PSG’s last two games with a knee knock but the expectation was always that he was being saved for this glamour tie.
He had completed 90 minutes for PSG only once before this game since arriving to team up with Neymar and Mbappe in a dream front line.
DE BRUYNE ESCAPES RED CARD
Naturally all eyes are drawn to him when PSG play now, yet the surprise star for the French side so far this season has been Gueye, the Senegal midfielder who has four goals to his name after opening the scoring eight minutes in.
Neymar failed to properly connect with Mbappe’s cutback from the right but the ball fell to Gueye and he fired high into the net from close range.
Having kept Chelsea at bay in a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge at the weekend, City were chasing the game already.
Guardiola had made two changes to his line-up from the Chelsea victory, with Gabriel Jesus and Phil Foden dropping out to make way for Sterling and Riyad Mahrez.
Sterling was involved as the visitors squandered a chance to equalise in comical fashion as the half-hour mark approached.
The England forward’s header came back off the bar and on its way down brushed Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was making his first ever Champions League appearance after being preferred to Keylor Navas in the Paris goal.
Silva was left with an easy chance to convert the loose ball from barely two metres but somehow also hit the bar.
City were succeeding in cutting off PSG’s front three from the rest of their team although the hosts might have scored again on the break in the 38th minute as an Ander Herrera shot was tipped over by Ederson.
Then came a flashpoint as Kevin De Bruyne escaped with a yellow card after his studs caught Gueye high above his ankle, the referee Carlos del Cerro Grande somewhat surprisingly not reviewing the images.
Despite that moment, this heavyweight showdown between the runners-up from the last two seasons often lacked the intensity that would certainly have been there in a knockout tie.
Donnarumma saved well from De Bruyne in the second half. Messi was largely a peripheral figure until conjured his moment of brilliance to kill off City.
*Liverpool paid a fitting tribute to Roger Hunt as Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino scored twice in a 5-1 demolition of Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Jurgen Klopp’s side wore black armbands after former Liverpool striker Hunt died earlier in the day aged 83.
Hunt was part of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning side and is Liverpool’s record league goal-scorer with 244 goals.
“Roger Hunt comes second to no-one in his importance in the history of Liverpool FC, that much is clear,” Klopp said.
Liverpool honoured Hunt’s memory with a dominant display and some predatory finishing at Estadio do Dragao, aided by three mistakes from hapless Porto keeper Diogo Costa.
Three days after scoring his 100th Premier League goal for Liverpool in the 3-3 draw at Brentford, Egypt forward Salah maintained his blistering start to the season with the first half opener.
Senegal winger Sadio Mane followed with his fourth goal this season and Salah netted again after the interval.
Porto, who drew with Atletico Madrid in their group opener, got one back through Mehdi Taremi.
Firmino punished Costa’s third howler to claim Liverpool’s fourth and the Brazilian netted again in the closing stages.
After beating AC Milan in their first game, Liverpool sit top of Group B with the maximum six points.
Such was Liverpool’s superiority that Klopp could even afford to take off Salah and Mane with over 20 minutes left.
It was the perfect preparation for the Premier League leaders’ crucial clash with champions Manchester City on Sunday.
With Trent Alexander-Arnold sidelined by a groin injury, midfielder James Milner had to deputise at right-back, but, unlike in their draw at Brentford, Liverpool were rarely troubled defensively.
RUTHLESS REDS
Porto lost veteran defender Pepe to an injury suffered in the warm-up and they suffered another blow when Otavio limped off in tears with an apparent hamstring problem after 14 minutes.
Sergio Conceicao’s side were unable to overcome those problems and Liverpool went ahead in the 18th minute.
Curtis Jones, who was at the heart of all Liverpool’s best moments, made a buccaneering run into the Porto area and Costa weakly pushed out his stinging shot.
It bounced off Zaidu Sanusi to Salah, who prodded home from virtually on the goal-line.
That made Salah the third African player to reach 30 Champions League goals after Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o.
Jordan Henderson, making his 400th Liverpool appearance, tested Costa with a powerful drive that the Porto keeper tipped over.
But Costa was culpable again when Liverpool increased their advantage in the 45th minute.
Milner whipped a low cross into the six-yard box and Costa inexplicably put his arms behind his back to leave Mane with a tap-in at the far post.
Liverpool were in complete control and Salah put the result beyond doubt on the hour, taking Jones’ pass in stride and slotting past Costa from 12 yards.
Salah’s eighth goal of the campaign meant the Egyptian had netted in all but one of Liverpool’s eight games this season.
Taremi’s diving header in the 75th minute punished a brief lapse from Liverpool.
Stung back into action, Liverpool bagged their fourth two minutes later when Costa rambled out of his penalty area in a failed attempt to reach Jones’ pass, allowing Firmino to steer a 40-yard strike into the empty net.
Firmino capped his cameo with his second goal in the 81st minute, this one a smart finish after Jones’ shot rebounded to the substitute. (Based on reports by AFP and Reuters)
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