Pep Guardiola known for his tactical prowess lost his first UCL encounter against Paris Saint-Germain but the Spanish tactician studied the French counterparts and showcased class in their return encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
Star Studded Paris Saint-Germain who can boast of the likes of skillful Brazilian Neymar Dos Santos Da Silva Jr., France wonderkid Kylian Mbappe, one of the undoubted football greatest Andreas Lionel Messi, Angel DI Maria among other players.
In their first meeting, Pep and his team lost to their hosts Paris Saint-Germain as the team played together to and covered the tracks for each other.
In their return encounter at the at the Etihad Stadium, it was a different play all together. Pep Guardiola stretched the PSG team and made them work.
While Manchester City were playing as a team, Paris Saint-Germain were playing as stars who can not be controlled.
Mbappe, Neymar and Messi cost their team as they never tracked back to assist when they lost possession. This placed more pressure on their midfield and gave Man. City the chance to work the ball in those open spaces.
Paris Saint-Germain started the game as usual on the high note with Neymar, Mbappe and Messi showcasing their skill and ball control but the tactical Pep Guardiola after a while spotted the holes in the Paris team and started to utilize it.
In the 50th minute, Kylian Mbappe gave Paris Saint-Germain the opening goal, many thought it was going to be a bashing for Pep and his team but his tactics started to kick in, Manchester City started to press extra high and played almost the remaining of the second quarter in the half of Paris Saint-Germain.
Thirteen (13) minutes after Mbappe opened the scoring, Raheem Sterling lashed on a pass from saviour Gabriel Jesus to equalize for Manchester City.
The pressure was now on, as City continued to play in the oppositions half.
Jesus who assisted in the first goal for City was not done yet, in the 73rd minute, he pounced on a pass from Bernardo Silva and the Brazilian did not miss from that angle.
He scored the second for Manchester City and scattered Paris Saint-Germain after trying a couple of times to fight back were held in their own half until the end of proceedings.
After five (5) matches, Manchester City picked 12 points with Paris Saint-Germain picking 8 points.
I am a young and vibrant sports journalist from Ghana, a member of the Sports Writers’ Association of Ghana(SWAG), and working with Sports Preview Ghana and sports reporting outfit poised to bring all the latest and trending sports news around the globe.
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