Manchester City came in to the game tonight being the perennial underdogs, however, The Citizens will be more content of the two teams following the 2-2 draw at Parc des Princes.
We all knew it would be a crazy night after David Luiz was booked after just 17 seconds in to the game. Unlike Chelsea in the last round, Manchester City started well against PSG and looked the more dangerous side and dominated in the early goings.
City were missing Vincent Kompany in defense and soon they had their first scare of the night when referee decided not to award a penalty after Blaise Matuidi was fouled inside the box. PSG kept the pressure on for next few minutes and saw Luiz redeeming himself after winning a contentious penalty.
Up-stepped Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score his 39th goal of the season but Joe Hart stood tall and made a crucial save. Ibra went on to miss couple of more chances in next 15 minutes.
Despite PSG’s pressure, City kept winning balls in midfield and looked a threat on the counter attack. On 38th minute Fernandinho robbed Matuidi and set up the returning Kevin De Bruyne, The Belgian made no mistake in putting City ahead. However, before City could celebrate properly they allowed PSG to come back after a silly .. silly .. silly mistake from Fernando.
The Brazilian failed to collect the ball from his keeper Hart and gave Zlatan a sight at goal and this time the Swed International did not let the chance go. PSG were level and suddenly were in charge of the game.
Second half saw City being content with the 1-1 result and looked to soak PSG’s pressure. That ended up being the wrong ploy after the French giants responded by taking the lead from a corner. The goal came from another defensive blunder which allowed Adrien Rabiot to sneak on the far post and give PSG the lead on the hour mark.
From there on, City went in to the damage control mode, however, the game was to see one more defensive calamity when Aruier failed to sort out his feet and allowed Fernandinho a simple tap-in. With second away goal on the night, City ended the game being favorites to qualify for the next round.
Latter stages of the match saw PSG players get lethargic and ended up trying, instead it was City who looked more dangerous on the counter attack. The game finished 2-2 and it will give Manuel Pellegrini a huge advantage in a weeks’ time from now as he has the cushion of two away goals.
City came in to the game hoping to limit the damage and all the talk was about Zlatan, Di Maria and Cavani, however, Premier League side can hold their head high and can still dream of qualifying for their first ever Champions League semi final.
Image Credit: Getty
