By Opta Analyst | Created at 2025-01-22 22:14:56 | Updated at 2025-01-23 01:06:44
2 hours ago
Manchester City threw away a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 in Paris, leaving them on the brink of league phase elimination. Look back at the game with the best facts and Opta data in our Paris Saint-Germain vs Man City stats page.
An entertaining second-half in Paris saw PSG come from two goals behind to defeat Manchester City at Parc des Princes. Goals from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland had put City in a seemingly comfortable position, but an unbelievable comeback thanks to strikes from Ousmane Dembélé, Bradley Barcola, João Neves and Gonçalo Ramos won the game for the Ligue 1 leaders.
This defeat put Man City in the bottom 12 places of the UCL table, meaning unless they win on the final matchday, they’ll exit the competition in the league phase. Meanwhile, this comeback put PSG in a strong position to make the playoffs.
Man City had some luck just before half-time, when Achraf Hakimi’s goal was ruled out for offside, but overall they struggled to cope with a wave of PSG attacks. City faced eight shots in the first half – only once in their last 27 games in all competitions had they faced more in a first 45 minutes of a match (10 versus Liverpool on 1 Dec 2024).
City came out for the second half with purpose. On came Grealish and Rico Lewis, and it took Grealish just four minutes and 10 seconds to score the opening goal of the game with his first touch. The England international powered home past Gianluigi Donnarumma after the ball fell kindly to him inside the box. It was only the second time that Grealish had scored in the UEFA Champions League in 33 appearances – the first came on his debut in September 2021.
Grealish turned creator just over three minutes later, receiving the ball wide before putting the ball into the box. His pass took a heavy deflection before finding Haaland at the back post, who made no mistake from close range. Despite a mixed season for his club, it was the Norwegian’s 23 competitive goal of the campaign already – 15 goals off last season’s total of 38.
With City cruising and gaps appearing all over PSG’s defence, it looked like the Premier League club would only go on to extend their lead. Then the collapse happened.
Dembélé scored his first Champions League goal of the season to give PSG a lifeline in the 56th minute and just four minutes later, City had sensationally thrown away their two-goal lead.
Barcola – PSG’s top scorer in all competitions this season – scored for the 13th time in 2024-25, prodding the ball past Ederson after Désiré Doué excellent strike had cannoned off the crossbar.
That same crossbar came to City’s aid 20 minutes from time, as Dembélé’s powerful shot hammered against it from a tight angle with Ederson beaten.
Nothing could save City in the 79th minute, though, as Neves completed an incredible comeback with a back-post header low past Ederson to win the game, before Gonçalo Ramos added a fourth in added time to compound City’s misery.
City will now need to win their final match of the league phase against Club Brugge at home next week to stand any chance of an embarrassing exit at the first hurdle.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the PSG vs Man City stats from their UEFA Champions League meeting in Paris.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own post-match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
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