Manchester City rallied from a goal down to defeat Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint-Germain in their penultimate group game of this season's UEFA Champions League. The Citizens emerged as winners of Group A after goals from Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus gave them the upper hand, running away with a 2-1 win after Kylian Mbappe had put them in front.
It looked almost certain that both clubs were going to sail through to the next round of the competition. With their group rivals RB Leipzig and Club Brugge having zero and four points respectively, there was not much for the aforementioned pair to do but to compete for the privilege to finish as group winners. The first half between the two European heavyweights failed to produce any goals despite the immense attacking talents on both ends and the host also dominating proceedings.
However, it did not take long for the game's deadlock to be broken in the early minutes of the second half. It was Kylian Mbappe who drew first blood for the visitors, slotting the ball home from close range after a well-worked move by his side. The lead was however relinquished a short while after with Raheem Sterling tapping home Gabriel Jesus' pass into the back of the visitors' net in the 63rd minute. Less than 13 minutes later, Gabriel Jesus found himself on the scoresheet by getting the winning goal for Pep Guardiola's side.
Club Brugge's defeat to RB Leipzig ensured a smooth passage for both Manchester City and PSG as the pair have secured 12 and eight points respectively ahead of the final group game. Meanwhile, the result led to a series of revision in the book of records and milestones and they have been outlined below:
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With the 45 goals he has scored in 2021 alone, Kylian Mbappe is one goal away from matching Thierry Henry's record as the highest-scoring Frenchman in a calendar year.
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Manchester City's victory guarantees that they will win their Champions League group for the fifth straight season, becoming only the second English team to accomplish so in the current structure of the league, following Manchester United in 2006-07 and 2010-11.
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Raheem Sterling is the fourth highest-scoring English man in the UEFA Champions League. He has now scored as many UEFA Champions League goals as Frank Lampard (23), with Wayne Rooney (30) and Paul Scholes (24) the only Englishmen to score more in the competition.
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Kylian Mbappé has become just the 11th player to score 20 away UEFA Champions League goals, reaching that tally in just his 23rd away appearance, fewer than any of the previous 10 players reached 20 goals on the road.
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At age 22 and 339 days, Kylian Mbappe is the second-youngest outfield player to make 50 Champions League appearances, behind only Cesc Fàbregas (22 years & 331 days).
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Kylian Mbappé scored his 29th goals in the Champions League, equalling David Trezeguet as France's third highest scorer in the competition (behind Karim Benzema and Thierry Henry).
