Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Manchester City: 5 hits and flops as Lionel Messi stunner seals revenge victory | UEFA Champions League 2021-22
Paris Saint-Germain avenged last season's Champions League defeat to Manchester City with a 2-0 victory at the Parc des Princes in their latest encounter.
Goals from Idrissa Gueye and Lionel Messi gave Paris Saint-Germain an important win in Group A as the Ligue 1 giants moved ahead of the reigning English champions in the table.
Statistically, Pep Guardiola's side were the more dominant in the game, keeping more possession, creating more chances and mustering more shots at goal. But they lacked the efficiency to make it count.
Just as they did in April, the Sky Blues found themselves 1-0 behind at the break after Gueye broke the deadlock with a sumptuous finish. But there was no comeback in the second-half this time.
Instead, Messi sealed the win for Paris Saint-Germain with a fine debut goal in the 74th minute, as PSG made amends for their opening day draw to Club Brugge.
Here are the hit and flop performers from the match:
Hit: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain)
Paris Saint-Germain's best player of the night and undoubtedly the player of the match too, Gianluigi Donnarumma was the single biggest reason why Manchester City couldn't find the back of the net despite mustering seven shots on target.
The 22-year-old delivered a goalkeeping masterclass. He read the game brilliantly to jump into crucial interventions and make a mammoth seven saves, including four from inside the box.
🔎 | FOCUS
Gianluigi Donnarumma vs Manchester City:
🧤 7 saves
📥 4 saves from inside the box
🥊 3 punches
✈️ 1 high claim
🏃♂️ 1/1 successful runs out
👌 44 touches
🧼 1 clean sheet
📈 9.1 SofaScore rating
He was immense for Paris Saint-Germain tonight! 👏👏
#PSGMCI #UCL https://t.co/26TasNZXkS
In what was his Champions League debut, Donnarumma was in inspired form, denying the likes of Sterling, De Bruyne and Mahrez/ The Algerian was kept out from 25 yards in stoppage time.
The former AC Milan custodian served another timely reminder of his exceptional qualities, producing a top-drawer performance that only reinforced why he's simply the best in the business.
Flop: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
It's no secret that Bernardo Silva has struggled to truly get going in the new season. But tonight was arguably his worst performance yet.
The Portuguese astonishingly missed an open goal in the first half, racing onto a rebound off the post from Sterling's initial effort and then shooting against the crossbar from barely five yards out with the goal gaping.
Bernardo Silva didn't score here 😨 https://t.co/VjUGu63lHE
It was quite remarkable stuff from a player of Silva's ilk, who's become so used to putting them in. It merely set the tone for the rest of his evening, struggling to make any meaningful impact.
The second half in particular breezed past him, with one good cross for Mahrez late on being the only bright spot as Silva endured a difficult outing against Paris Saint-Germain.