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AS IT HAPPENED

As it happened: Paris Saint-Germain v Manchester City, Champions League

We were at the Parc des Princes to see if Laurent Blanc’s side could get the better of a Premier League team again.

Good evening everyone and welcome to our coverage of what promises to be a pretty juicy affair.

In the round of 16, PSG made a firm statement of intent by brushing past Chelsea and with City’s recent domestic issues, it’s the home side that are the favourites ahead of this tie.

The big news is that Serge Aurier returns to the PSG side for the first time since making those ill-advised comments about Laurent Blanc and his team-mates last month. The other well-known names are all present and correct.

For City, Joe Hart is back in goal while Bacary Sagna is preferred to Pablo Zabaleta at right-back.

PSG don’t enjoy the quarter-finals of this tournament. The last time they got past the last eight was back in 1995 when a glorious team, featuring George Weah, Rai and David Ginola were eventually eliminated in the semis by AC Milan.

Ah, the memories.

 

Soccer Pro Games Champion League 1995 Milan vs Paris Associated Press Associated Press

For all of you who enjoy these things, Uefa’s tactical lineups has PSG playing a 4-3-3 this evening with Zlatan supported by Cavani on one side and di Maria on the other.

They’re still without the excellent Marco Verratti so Adrien Rabiot, who scored the opener against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, continues to deputise alongside Blaise Matuidi and Thiago Motta in midfield.

For City, de Bruyne seems set to play just behind Aguero with Navas and Silva in wide areas.

Formations

There was some pre-game needle as Samir Nasri – such a nice bloke – and Laurent Blanc exchanged some taunts.

Nasri played down the perception of PSG’s success and also said that Leonardo and Carlo Ancelotti essentially built Blanc’s team.

Blanc responded by having a pop at the quality of the Premier League, asking why there were so few English teams still involved in the business end of the Champions League.

It goes without saying but we’ll be keeping an eye on tonight’s other Champions League game too. Real Madrid are in Germany to take on Wolfsburg.

We’re almost good to go. The anthem has blared, handshakes are taking place and kick-off is due in a few moments.

KICK-OFF!

BOOKING! That’s absolutely mindless from David Luiz. 12 seconds in and he takes down Aguero in the right channel and goes in the book. The free-kick doesn’t come to anything go. A major let-off for the centre-back.

City have started well here. Navas is played in down the right side but his cross is blocked for a corner. PSG clear their lines but they need to put some passes together here.

By the way, as a result of that yellow card, David Luiz will now miss the return leg.

City are clearly targeting the left-side of this PSG defence. They’re playing some intricate stuff and Navas almost slips de Bruyne into the channel again.

PENALTY CLAIM! And just like that, PSG may have had a penalty here. Cavani slipped it through for Matuidi on the counter. The pass is poor but Matuidi gets to it anyway and goes tumbling under the challenge of Mangala and Hart. Referee says no pen and waves play on. Have just seen a replay and there may have been a clip from the centre back. Hard to tell for sure though so a good decision, I’d say.

Meanwhile, PSG get through again after a simple ball over the top. City caught too high and di Maria beats the offside trap. He takes a terrific first touch before flashing a strike across goal.

BOOKING! Clichy gets a yellow now after stupidly going in on Aurier when the right-back was harmlessly playing a pass along the touchline.

PENALTY! Luiz goes down in the area under a challenge from Sagna and, this time, it is a penalty!

PENALTY MISS! Well, that’s a big moment, isn’t it? Zlatan steps up, it seems Hart is mouthing at him a bit and it has an effect too. The Swede sends it to keeper’s left and Hart throws himself down and pushes it away. Great save.

Well, let’s take a moment after all that, shall we? On the penalty, it was dangerous from Sagna – essentially dangling a foot as Luiz cut inside him and onto his right foot. He certainly made the most of it but it was risky from the right-back and perhaps the non-penalty decision from earlier on was playing on the referee’s mind.

Zlatan will be irritated that the penalty was saved, especially if Hart was giving him some verbals. Expect something from him special from the attacker at some stage in retaliation.

CLOSE! City intercept in midfield and pour forward quickly with de Bruyne leading the charge. He knocks it wide to Navas who has time to measure the cross. It’s inch-perfect for David Silva but he doesn’t look like he fancies it and he’s never in control of the header, despite it being a great chance. It bounces harmlessly wide of Kevin Trapp’s goal.

CLOSE! That really should be the lead goal for PSG. Awful from City who cheaply surrender it and they’re lost in transition as Matuidi pings a pass forward instantly, right through the middle, and Zlatan is on his own, racing towards Hart’s goal. But as the challenges are about to come in, he pushes it too high and it’s wasteful.

Aguero buzzes around the edge of the area, holding off a couple of challenges before feeding Silva out wide. It eventually forces a corner but nothing comes from it for the guests.

By the way, and this isn’t a mistake, Wolfsburg are currently leading 2-0 against Real Madrid. Rodriguez and Martin have scored within minutes of each other and the Bundesliga side are in dreamland right now.

There you go…

Zlatan sees a 30-yard free-kick smack Mangala in the head. Something tells me he’ll be pretty happy with that outcome.

BOOKING! Luiz bounds forward and exchanges passes with Cavani. He takes a touch around Fernando and the midfielder brings him down. And he goes in the book as a result. The resultant free-kick sees di Maria step up but his effort can’t make it over the wall.

GOAL! De Bruyne! 

Where did that come from? What a quick break from City and Fernandinho races towards the PSG goal before slipping it to de Bruyne on his shoulder. He makes it look so easy from close range and gives Trapp no chance. Game on here.

GOAL! Ibrahimovic! 

Wow. This is a freak goal for the ages. The TV cameras were still showing replays of de Bruyne’s goal and actually missed the moment Zlatan poked to the net. But I’m not sure what Joe Hart and Fernando are doing. The keeper knocks a short goal-kick to the midfielder, who drops deep to pick it up. But Zlatan is right on his shoulder. So, he does what you’re always told not to and tries to play it across the penalty area, urged on by Hart. As he plays the ball, Zlatan darts in to block and the ball deflects into the net, with Hart still at the right side of his goal. Absolutely bizarre stuff from City.

HALF-TIME! 

CLOSE! That should be 2-1 to PSG. No question. Di Maria attacks the middle of the City defence before slipping it the unmarked Matuidi on the left. Cavani is at the far post, screaming for it and all it needs is a nice, low cross and it’s in. But Matuidi gets it all wrong and the ball fizzes over everyone’s heads.

HALF-TIME! 

Hard to know how City aren’t in the driving seat here. They conceded an awful equaliser and it will probably prove to be quite crucial too.

A bit of a strange half. Exciting and entertaining but both defences have been very, very poor. PSG have had much more of the ball and missed a penalty but City broke forward and scored with such ease through de Bruyne that it doesn’t inspire much confidence in the PSG rearguard.

Similarly, as the half wore on, City started to get caught out and only for Matuidi’s terrible cross with Cavani perfectly placed, they would’ve been behind.

And all because of that moment of madness from Hart and Fernando.

The explanation for Hart’s decision. But why didn’t he just pass to his right-back?

SECOND HALF! 

BOOKING! Matuidi gets a yellow now after bringing down Otamendi and he’ll also miss the return game. Two big blows for PSG now.

Cavani flashes a header over the bar as PSG are dominating possession here. Di Maria delights with some showboating before launching a cross to Zlatan. It all ends with Cavani lobbing in a cross to the far post for Zlatan but Sagna does well to put him under pressure.

City get up the pitch, finally, after a six-yard area scramble at a PSG corner. Thanks to de Bruyne, they race into the final third after a quick transition and get a breather.

GOAL! Rabiot!

From the PSG corner, Hart parries a near-post header from Cavani and Rabiot pounces on the loose ball to knock it home from a few yards. He scored against Chelsea and he’s got another against Premier League opposition here.

VERY CLOSE! PSG opening City up again. The cross from the right is perfect from di Maria. Zlatan gets up highest and pust the header back across goal and Hart watches as it hits the crossbar and drops for the on-rushing Cavani but he hits the shot into the ground and it bounces over the bar. He should’ve done better. City in big trouble here – they’re on the ropes and bleeding heavily.

If you were Manuel Pellegrini, you’d be looking at the bench right about now. But there’s not much there. Bony and Iheanacho and an attacking full-back in Kolarov.

GOAL! Fernandinho! 

Oh, good grief. That’s absolutely awful. PSG were absolutely cantering to victory here. City break and slowly build on the right side. A low cross comes in, Aurier makes a complete mess of it, Thiago Silva doesn’t exactly help matters either and Fernandinho’s effort takes a deflection on its way and rolls to the far corner. Schoolboy stuff.

Fair summation.

SUBSTITUTIONS! Delph (on) – de Bruyne (off) and Lucas (on) – Rabiot (off)

Change for both teams here. Defensive move for City as Delph bulks up the central midfield while Brazilian Lucas has plenty of tricks and creativity for the visitors to worry about.

 

 

BOOKING! Mangala is the latest player to get a yellow as he goes in on Matuidi.

By the way, Real Madrid are still losing 2-0 in Wolfsburg. Massive, massive shock on the cards.

SUBSTITUTION! Bony (on) – Silva (off)

Interesting from Pellegrini. Does he fancy going for the winner?

Silva does well to stretch the PSG defence. He tries to slip it through for Aguero but Luiz stretches out a leg and whips it clear. He seems to have caught his foot in the turf though and he’s hobbling. Misses the return match anyway but could still have repercussions in this game, perhaps.

There will be three minutes of additional time.

SUBSTITUTION! Kolarov (on) – Aguero (off)

Can’t remember a game where Aguero has been so quiet and he trudges toward the touchline as the attacking full-back replaces him.

FULL-TIME! 

Two nice away goals for City to take with them but they were fortunate to get a draw tonight. PSG really should’ve been out of sight after Cavani put them in front but Fernandinho managed to scramble home an equaliser out of nowhere.

PSG will certainly feel like they can score at the Etihad and City need to be better at home if they want to hold on to their slender advantage.

Aguero was anonymous and well-shackled but de Bruyne was a standout and he is the key if City have any desire of reaching the final four.

PSG missed a penalty, could’ve had another and hit the bar too.

Still, it promises to be a pretty exciting affair back in Manchester.

Thanks for staying with us this evening and there will plenty more reaction on the site in the next while.

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