Manchester City landed a spot in the Champions League's record books after securing a vital 2-1 win over title favorites Paris Saint-Germain. The Citizens put in a brilliant shift in the second half to overturn the one-goal deficit and secure an advantage going into the second leg encounter with the Ligue 1 outfit.
After being put ahead by Marquinhos in the first half, Mauricio Pochettino's men were pegged back nineteen minutes into the second half. In a rather bizarre fashion, Kevin De Bruyne's cross intended for his teammates in the host's penalty area evaded everybody and surprisingly beat Keylor Navas at the far post to restore parity. Not long after, Riyad Mahrez turned the game on its head with a stunning free-kick to put the Citizens in front.
"The walls of Paris have been breached!"
— SuperSport (@SuperSportTV) April 28, 2021
What a turn around from Manchester City as Mahrez fires home a free-kick through the wall to hand his side the lead.
Stream live: https://t.co/0BMWdennut #UCL pic.twitter.com/QwOwysVLJA
With the enthralling encounter angling towards a defeat for PSG, they were dealt a further blow with the sending off of Idrissa Gueye. The Senegalese midfielder was shown a straight red card by referee Felix Brych for a horror challenge on Ilkay Gundogan, becoming the sixth player to be sent off twice in a single campaigh in the history of the Champions League.
In the end, his side could not gather momentum to get back into the game as City took the advantage into the second leg. With the result, Pep Guardiola's men became the first English side to win ten or more games in a single campaign under the current format of the Champions League (since 2003/2004).
"So satisfied for the performance but it's halfway and we still have 90 more minutes to beat them. PSG is a team where anything can happen."
— SuperSport (@SuperSportTV) April 28, 2021
Pep Guardiola shares his thoughts on City's victory at the Parc des Princes.#UCL