Paris Saint-Germain suffered a second-half collapse making two costly mistakes allowing Manchester City to score two massive away goals in a 2-1 defeat on home soil.
Kevin De Bruyne’s cross missed everyone in the box and found its way past Keylor Navas in the PSG goal before Riyad Mahrez’s free-kick was helped in thanks to a gap in the wall leading to the winner. These goals could be considered lucky but that’s football, small mistakes are costly. This all came after captain Marquinhos had given the French side a 1 nil lead at half-time glancing his header past Ederson in the 15th minute.
Paris Saint-Germain Suffer Second-Half Capitulation
Turning Point
In the first half, PSG dominated the ball and Marquinhos scored the goal off a beautiful corner kick by Angel Di Maria. After losing their way in the second they looked exhausted. Firstly, PSG’s second-half collapse all started with Kevin De Bruyne‘s cross that went in is an inexcusable mistake by PSG. Players have to deflect it or hit the ball out of bounds, as the goalkeeper was too busy waiting for a touch. Secondly, Mahrez’s goal all happened because PSG’s wall broke down and led to an open space in which made it impossible for the keeper to save.
Late in the game, after Idrissa Gueye had been given a straight red for a nasty challenge on Ilkay Gundogan leading the PSG to resort to overreactions of every foul.
They surrounded the referee pleading to give De Bruyne a second yellow after his lazy late challenge which did not influence the game or could cause a defining injury. Notably, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Marquinhos were the players complaining to the referee. An immature and unprofessional antics. Without a doubt, a losing team results in desperate and bush league play. They stopped playing the style of football they were in the first half. It was mistake after mistake. Unquestionably, the team got rattled and never fully recovered. It resulted in a domino effect where what can go wrong will go wrong. It seemed the players were spending more time whining than playing football and trying to equalize. Ultimately, it may come back to bite them in the end and the reason they lost this fixture.
Kylian Mbappe Doubt for Second Leg
For PSG to turn it around in the second leg, a lot relies on Mbappe being fit. However, Mbappe sustained a calf injury and is a doubt for the visit to the Etihad Stadium. PSG’s only chance is if Mbappe plays and it will take a remarkable performance to win this leg. In particular, a similar performance to his hat-trick at Barcelona or his two goals at Bayern Munich. Undoubtedly, it will be a gargantuan task considering the circumstances but anything is possible. There is a reason Mbappe is known as one of the best players in the world.
If he is unable to play on Tuesday, Neymar will need to have a masterclass performance. Obviously, it depends on what Neymar shows up. Will it be a player who is hell-bent on scoring and blocks out all the noise? Or will the immature Neymar show up where he whines and dives to try to draw fouls instead of playing proper football? Neymar needs to play as he did in the first leg against Bayern where he had an assist to one of Mbappe’s goals. Clearly, PSG will lose if he plays as he did in the reverse fixture against Bayern where he missed numerous chances. It all comes down to Neymar’s mindset during the game.Â
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