PLAYER RATINGS | PSG 4-2 Manchester City: Parisians revive European campaign with second-half comeback | OneFootball

With Paris Saint-Germain on the precipice of an early European exit, hosting a resurgent Manchester City (themselves in only a slightly less precarious position) at the Parc des Princes was far from the ideal opener to a season-defining seven days.

With a misfiring attack being the overarchng theme of the Ligue 1 leaders’ European campaign thus far, Luis Enrique will have preferred to have a match-fit Ousmane Dembélé at his disposal, given the French international’s five goals in his last three outings. Instead, the 27-year-old, who has seemingly won back the faith of his manager, started from the bench after missing the last two outings due to illness.

As has been the case in most of their continental fixtures this season, the hosts dominated possession without really showing any incisiveness. While there were promising breaks down the flanks for Bradley Barcola and Désiré Doué, the lack of any identifiable centre-forward in the line-up heavily penalised PSG once they approached the box.

Pep Guardiola’s men would be left with only stale keep-ball around the box and aimless crosses to defend, while Gianluigi Donnarumma was equal to efforts from Erling Haaland and Savinho when the visitors countered. When the Parisiens appeared to have taken a lead on the stroke of half-time through Achraf Hakimi, the goal would be ruled out after a seemingly microscopic offside call on Nuno Mendes’ knee initial run.

While Dembélé’s half-time introduction was met with a roar of approval from the Parc des Princes crowd, it was another substitute who made the instant impact. After beating Nuno Mendes down the wing, Akanji would find Bernardo Silva in the box for an effort which was initially parried by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Marquinhos’ ensuing deflection, though, fell to a wide open Jack Grealish to score his first goal in over a year. The Italian was similarly helpless for Manchester City’ second minutes later, as Haaland was on hand at the back post to turn in a shot which had been deflected by Neves.

The turnaround that followed, though, was inspired by both Dembélé’s entrance and a reinvigorated Barcola. The latter would first set up the former Barcelona man for an open-goal finish, before pulling the hosts level himself on the hour mark. His first-time shot, latching onto the rebound from Désiré Doué’s shot against the bar, would bobble past an already-beaten Ederson and into the bottom corner.

It was João Neves, nearing the end of a lung-bursting midfield performance, who completed the remontada just over ten minutes from time by meeting Vitinha’s free-kick with a powerful header at the back post. Gonçalo Ramos would add a fourth in stoppage time – the goal confirmed after a lengthy VAR check – to seal a result which almost had an air of inevitability, given the momentum PSG generated from the hour mark onward.

While Les Parisiens’ spot in the knockouts is not yet guaranteed, the result sees them climb back into the top 24 ahead of next week’s trip to Stuttgart, where a draw will suffice to qualify. Perhaps more importantly, the final half-hour could prove to be a foundational performance for this young PSG team, who had still been finding their feet in the post-Mbappé era.

PSG player ratings

Gianluigi Donnarumma, 6

Achraf Hakimi, 6

Marquinhos, 5

Willian Pacho, 7

Nuno Mendes, 4

Fabián Ruiz, 4

João Neves, 9 – The Portuguese midfielder was already PSG’s most consistent performer since the start of his first campaign in the French capital, and he stepped up accordingly for his highest-stakes match since arriving. The 20-year-old won the majority of his one-on-one midfield battles, cutting short half a dozen Manchester City attacks all the while constantly making himself available as a creative outlet. Scored a memorable winning goal to cap off a foundational remontada for a young PSG team, whose spirit and dynamism is arguably the best represented by Neves.

Vitinha, 7 – While not as influential as his younger compatriot, Vitinha’s role in keeping an off-colour Kevin De Bruyne’s influence under control was crucial. It was also his free-kick which set up Neves for the third goal.

Désiré Doué, 7

Kang-in Lee, 3 – Not for the first time in the Champions League this season, the attacking midfielder looked somewhat disoriented among the front three, and had little influence on proceedings. Replaced at half-time by Ousmane Dembélé (7), whose introduction gave the entire Parisian attack a second wind. On top of scoring the goal that kick-started the revival, the French international would have Gvardiola beaten in each one of his forays down the right wing. Some more composure would have seen him off a sensational move, which included a nutmeg of Bernardo Silva, with a second goal.

Bradley Barcola, 8 – Having already scored and assisted over the weekend, the winger cemented his return to his early-season form with a similarly incisive display. A strong impression on the night that his future competition for a starting spot in Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was in attendance for the first time since joining.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin – reporting from the Parc des Princes, Paris