Match Report and Player Ratings: Paris Saint-Germain 4-2 Manchester City (UEFA Champions League) | OneFootball

Manchester City’s Champions League play-off hopes will rest on the final matchday of the league phase after they once again threw away a two-goal lead to fall to a deserved defeat to Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes.

Pep Guardiola’s men were on the back foot for much of the first-half and needed a VAR review to rule out Achraf Hakimi’s goal for the tightest of offsides against Nuno Mendes.

Four goals in 10 mad, second-half minutes saw City take a 0-2 lead through substitute Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland, but Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola quickly restored parity, and an 80th minute winner from Joao Neves and late fourth from Goncalo Ramos sealed a fourth straight Champions League game without a win for the now-endangered Etihad side.

The pouring rain didn’t dampen either team’s spirits in an extremely lively opening to the game, which saw PSG winger Desire Doue fire off the first shot to test Ederson at his near post, and Joao Neves head a deep free-kick over the bar as the hosts started strongly.

The French champions were the better team in the opening half-hour and Fabian Ruiz applied big pressure to the English champions’ goal, first seeing a shot narrowly deflected behind then having his effort from the resulting corner cleared off the line by Josko Gvardiol.

City were finding some joy on the counter-attack but the Parisians seemed the more likely of the teams to score in the first-half and thought they did so when their full-backs combined and Hakimi blasted in from the edge, only for VAR to reveal a marginal offside on Mendes’ knee to get the visitors out of jail.

And the ever-changing nature of Champions League football was apparent, because just as PSG had their goal disallowed right before half-time, City took the lead straight after the resumption.

Manuel Akanji underwent a raid of pure desire down the right and picked out Bernardo Silva to shoot into Gianluigi Donnarumma, only for Jack Grealish lash home on the rebound with his very first touch after coming off the bench.

If City scoring against the run of play was a surprise, the second goal arriving just three minutes later was unbelievable – Matheus Nunes charged upfield and played it to Grealish, whose cross deflected straight to Haaland at the back post for the simplest of tap-ins.

But the goal floodgates had been opened and PSG hit back immediately, as Bradley Barcola evaded Nunes on the wing and charged into the box, picking out substitute Ousmane Dembele to slide into the bottom corner and reignite the contest.

The comeback was complete in double-quick time, Mateo Kovacic ceding possession and allowing Doue to shoot off the bar, with Barcola on hand to steer home via the post and level things up on the hour.

City’s short-lived supremacy was over and they were again thanking their lucky stars not to be behind when Dembele smashed his shot off the bar, but their luck eventually ran out and Neves headed in a deserved winner for the Parisians at the back post.

Another offside denied PSG a fourth goal once but Goncalo Ramos eventually struck to reflect their superiority on the scoreline, meaning Manchester City’s hopes now rest on the final league phase match against Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium.

Here is how we rated the players’ individual performances in Manchester City’s UEFA Champions League collapse against PSG!

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Ederson – 5

Faced nightmarish conditions for any goalkeeper in the pouring rain, and it did seem to have an adverse impact on his kicking. Can’t be blamed for either PSG goal.

Manuel Akanji – 4

Had his blushes spared after switching off and allowing Mendes to pick out Hakimi to score, only for VAR to disallow the goal. Produced a rare moment of City quality to help set up Grealish’s opener, but was far from his best otherwise.

Ruben Dias – 5.5

Was walking a tightrope after his early yellow card, and whilst he didn’t make any glaring errors thereafter, Pep Guardiola clearly felt he was too much of a risk to keep on in the second half.

Josko Gvardiol – 6 (MOTM)

Would have been fearing the worst after a rocky start up against Hakimi and Doue on the flank, but started to look more like his composed self the more it went on and wasn’t directly at fault for the collapse despite his slight touch keeping Ramos onside for the fourth.

Matheus Nunes – 3.5

The topsy-turviest of games. Gave a snapshot of his talents with a terrific run to lay up the Haaland goal, but was targeted throughout by Barcola and was done up like a kipper by the youngster for PSG’s first goal.

Mateo Kovacic – 4

Always tried to work himself out of tight situations, but by so doing tied himself in knots on more than one occasion and it led to PSG’s equaliser.

Bernardo Silva – 3.5

Nobody can ever doubt his effort, but when a team sets up to attack quickly and in transition as City did tonight, far more decisive and incisive offensive play is required than what the little Portuguese was able to provide.

Kevin de Bruyne – 4

Showed his running power at certain points on the break, but his decision-making was iffy at best and he only became more erratic as his fitness waned.

Phil Foden – 3.5

Far too much like the out-of-form Foden we’ve seen for large portions of this season. Aside from one pass to set up Savinho, he couldn’t get on the ball in any meaningful areas.

Erling Haaland – 4.5

Quite poor in his attempts to link play and lead the press for much of the match. Scored the goal that should have put City out of sight.

Savinho – 5

Looked threatening on the break with his pace but rarely made the right decisions, and was hooked at half-time.

Substitutes

Rico Lewis – 5

Scrapped in his own half but to no avail.

Jack Grealish – 6

Still couldn’t provide the directness he’s always struggled with at City, outside of the opening goal and forcing it through to Haaland for the second.

Ilkay Gundogan – 5

Struggled to make any influence in the midfield.

James McAtee – 5

Likewise, unlucky to come on when he did and see his team throw away the game.

John Stones – 4.5

Compounded his teammate’s flakiness by missing his header and allowing the PSG winner.