PSG claim slender semi-final advantage in 9-goal thriller with Bayern | OneFootball

Paris Saint-Germain will take a small advantage to Munich next week after tonight's thrilling 5-4 win over FC Bayern. The thrilling first-leg at the Parc des Princes offered up a landslide of goals, with Ousmane Dembélé's strike proving to be the point of difference in the French capital.

Both sides looked to their wide players for joy in the initial exchanges, although Bayern shaded the possession statistics. That would provide the platform for the visitors to take the lead when Willian Pacho clumsily fouled Luis Díaz, resulting in 17th-minute penalty. 

As is often the case, Harry Kane sent PSG's Matvei Safonov the wrong way from the spot. The Russian shot-stopper made amends just minutes later - on the break, Kane played a delightful ball into Michael Olise. The winger's overly calm finish was repelled by the right forearm of Safonov.

In a flash momentum swung the host's way, with ex-Dortmund man Ousmane Dembélé spurning a gilt-edged one-on-one chance created by Warren Zaïre-Emery. Parity soon followed, however, and Kvitsha Kvaratskhelia's dancing feet made space to curl a shot inside the far post. 

After Olise struck the upright and a Desire Doué's solo effort fizzed past the post at either end, PSG went ahead from a set-piece. Dembélé's corner met the head of one of the smallest men on the field in João Neves. The Portuguese star glancing it past Neuer at full stretch.

With attacking, gung-ho football on the menu for both clubs this evening, the chances didn't let up. Four minutes before the break, Bayern's turn to equalise came. Olise drifted into a central position, given too much room, and whipped it over the wrong-footed Safonov.

Amazingly, that wouldn't be the end of the first-half goal-scoring. A further dramatic twist arrived when Dembélé's delivery struck Alphonso Davies on the arm. At first glance, it seemed harsh, but a VAR review gave the Parisians a penalty which Dembélé steered home for 3-2 at the break. 

In the absence of the suspended Vincent Kompany, assistant Aaron Denks replaced Davies with Konrad Laimer upon the restart. A second penalty appeal for PSG, involving Kvaratskhelia on this occasion, but the contact with Dayot Upamecano was minimal.

Still, Luis Enrique's team would put daylight between the sides in a blistering three-minute spell before the hour mark. The marauding Achraf Hakimi found space on the right to pick out Kvaratskhelia. The Georgian finding the lower left corner emphatically. 

The following counterattack, which persisted to sting the Bavarians all night, was initiated by Doué who set up Dembélé to make it 5-2 with some help from the post. Most teams would crumble in the tense Parisian atmosphere, but Bayern punched back in style. 

The Bavarians would claw the deficit back to one in a four-minute flurry. Joshua Kimmich's 65th-minute set-piece was flicked in by Upamecano. The next significant attack saw Kane pick out Luis Díaz, enabling the winger to turn Marquinhos and dispatch it into the right corner. 

Both sides called on the cavalry from the bench late on, with PSG youngster Senny Mayulu rattling the crossbar late on. Four minutes of injury time saw Bayern pile on the pressure, with Pacho clearing Kimmich's late header off the line to maintain their lead before Wednesday's trip to Munich.