City suffered their first defeat under Enzo Maresca as Paris Saint-Germain won 4-2 at the Etihad Stadium in the Champions League.
Erling Haaland scored twice in the second half and moved past Sergio Aguero as City’s leading scorer in the Champions League proper.
Maresca believes City’s response showed they are “close” to the back-to-back European champions, but Marc Guehi described the first-half performance as “not really acceptable”.
There has also been a fresh focus on City’s Premier League financial case and what any eventual punishment could mean for the women’s team.
Here is our 7pm round-up of the latest Man City news for Thursday, 15 October.
PSG hand Maresca his first City defeat
City’s unbeaten start under Maresca ended as PSG secured a 4-2 Champions League victory at the Etihad. Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele scored 99 seconds apart before Vitinha made it 3-0 after 32 minutes. Maresca made three changes at half-time, introducing Matheus Nunes, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Iliman Ndiaye.
Haaland scored twice as City improved after the break, but Maghnes Akliouche also struck for PSG to help Luis Enrique’s side see out the victory. City finished with 27 attempts, while Haaland also hit the woodwork and was denied a hat-trick by Matvey Safonov.
Haaland moves past Aguero
Haaland’s two goals provided City with some consolation on a difficult night. His first took him past Aguero as City’s leading scorer in the Champions League proper, with the Norwegian now on 38 goals in 41 appearances for the club in the competition.
Haaland received an eight in our Man City player ratings after scoring twice, hitting the woodwork and forcing Safonov into another important save. Half-time substitutes Bouaddi and Ndiaye were also among City’s better performers, with both providing assists for Haaland. It was a more difficult evening for City’s defence after PSG scored three times in the opening 32 minutes.
Maresca says City are ‘close’ to PSG
Maresca remained positive about City’s second-half response despite suffering his first defeat since replacing Pep Guardiola. The City manager said he believes his side are “close” to PSG after they produced a much-improved display following his three half-time changes.
Maresca felt conceding twice in quick succession caused City to lose their balance before the interval. He said City’s willingness to go “toe to toe” with PSG after the break showed there was not a significant gap between the teams. Maresca also revealed that Luis Enrique told him after the game that PSG had been “quite lucky”.
City have three points from their opening two Champions League matches after beginning the campaign with a 2-0 victory at Porto.
Guehi says first half was ‘not really acceptable’
Guehi was more critical of City’s performance and accepted responsibility for his part in PSG’s opening two goals. The England defender described City’s first-half display as “not really acceptable”, particularly at home. Guehi said PSG had been more aggressive and won too many individual battles as City struggled with the visitors’ intensity.
He welcomed the response after half-time but said City could not expect to score five or six goals to make up for defensive mistakes. Guehi also warned that opponents of PSG’s quality will punish lapses in the Champions League.
Could Man City Women be affected by Premier League punishment?
The possible consequences of City’s Premier League financial case have largely centred on the men’s team, but questions have also been raised about the women’s operation. We looked at how Man City Women could be affected by any eventual punishment, with the women’s side operating as a separate legal entity and not directly subject to Premier League sporting sanctions.
City Women compete under WSL Football and were not implicated in the Premier League commission’s case. However, the women’s operation is not financially self-sustaining and its latest accounts state that it will continue to receive equity funding from its parent company until it reaches that point.
A significant financial punishment against the wider City operation could therefore have an indirect impact on the women’s side, although there is currently no indication of what that might involve. City have appealed against the commission’s findings, and no sporting sanction has yet been imposed.
City return to Premier League action on Saturday when Ipswich Town visit the Etihad Stadium.
Comments.
Loading comments…