Man City 2-4 PSG: Haaland bags brace but City fall short as Doue, Dembele, Vitinha and Akliouche net

Paris Saint-Germain's unbeaten UEFA Champions League run now stands at 12 matches after their thumping 4-2 win against Manchester City earned them a first-ever victory at the Etihad Stadium. 

Match Report

Pep Guardiola took in a Champions League thriller on his return to the Etihad Stadium as Paris Saint-Germain beat Manchester City 4-2.

Guardiola returned to his former stomping ground for the first time since his departure at the end of last season.

But despite a raucous pre-match atmosphere in City's first home game following the guilty verdict in the Premier League's case against them, Guardiola saw his old team fall 3-0 down inside 32 minutes.

Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha were on target in an inspired first-half display from PSG, but Erling Haaland's double saw City threaten a fightback.

The crossbar spared Matvey Safonov's blushes when he palmed against it in the 12th minute, with Antoine Semenyo blazing over on the rebound, though Marc Guehi was penalised for a foul on PSG's goalkeeper.

Yet PSG hit the front less than two minutes later. Fabian Ruiz fed Doue on the counter-attack, and the France winger skipped in from the left before picking out the bottom-left corner with a drilled strike.

PSG were 2-0 up just 99 seconds later, with Doue and Dembele combining to devastating effect as the latter headed home from point-blank range.

Vitinha tested Gianluigi Donnarumma, who could then do nothing to deny Achraf Hakimi, but the full-back clipped a header against the woodwork.

PSG did go three up in the 32nd minute, however, with Vitinha slamming in first-time from the edge of the box, as City shipped three goals in the first half of a competitive home game for the first time since 2015 v Liverpool (4-1 loss).

Joskov Gvardiol headed wide and Jeremy Doku shot tamely at Safonov, and Enzo Maresca wasted no time in shuffling his pack at half-time. Matheus Nunes, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Iliman Ndiaye came on, and the latter crossed in for Haaland to head beyond Safonov in the 53rd minute.

Semenyo hit the crossbar, albeit from an offside position, and Ndiaye went close as City urgently pressed for a second, but a Donnarumma blunder dented their hopes.

Donnarumma got a big hand to Maghnes Akliouche's shot, yet the former PSG man only managed to spin the ball up and into the net, and he was unable to scramble it clear.

Gvardiol saw an effort cleared off the line and Enzo Fernandez rattled the frame of the goal, while Haaland then hit the top of the bar with a towering header.

There was no denying Haaland 57 seconds later, as he coolly swept in from Bouaddi's cutback to reduce the arrears.

Haaland seemed all set to net his hat-trick in the 83rd minute, only to direct an on-the-slide attempt at Safonov.

Former City striker Ferran Torres squandered a golden chance to put the result beyond all doubt when he sent a tame penalty at Donnarumma following Nunes' foul on Nuno Mendes, but the hosts could not make that reprieve count.

Pep kicks every ball, Haaland into the record books but PSG just too good

PSG put on a clinic in the first half, and even Guardiola, who was so animated he looked as though he wanted to go and join Maresca down on the touchline, must have been slightly in awe of what Luis Enrique's team produced.

It marked the first time City trailed by three goals at half-time in a home game since January 2012, with PSG having hit the target with seven of their 10 first-half shots.

Yet Maresca can at least look at the second-half response with some positivity. He changed the shape, and City dominated.

In scoring his first goal, Haaland surpassed Sergio Aguero as City's all-time leading scorer in the Champions League.

Haaland's second strike took him to 61 goals in 60 games in the competition, with 38 of those coming for City (in just 41 matches).

City finished with a whopping 27 shots, worth a combined 2.57 expected goals. Of that xG, 1.78 came in the second half.

Haaland had eight attempts, with Semenyo tallying six and Ndiaye four, but ultimately, Donnarumma's error, combined with that Haaland miss, meant it was just a bridge too far.

Match Events

13' GOAL! Good strike from Desire Doue after PSG build from back to front! Man City 0-1 PSG

15' GOAL! Desire Doue dinks it back across goal for Ousmane Dembele to nod home! Man City 0-2 PSG

32' GOAL! Backheel from Zaire-Emery and Vitinha runs onto the ball and scores! Man City 0-3 PSG

53' GOAL! Iliman Ndiaye delivers and Erling Haaland rises highest to head home! Man City 1-3 PSG

62' GOAL! A huge mistake from Donnarumma and a stunning strike from Akliouche! Man City 1-4 PSG

75' GOAL! All Haaland has to do is sweep the ball into the bottom corner! Man City 2-4 PSG

Line-ups

Man City XI: Ruben Dias, Donnarumma, Elliot Anderson, Haaland, Guehi, Antoine Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Gvardiol, Enzo, Abdukodir Khusanov

Subs: Gerónimo Rulli, Kovacic, Bettinelli, Foden, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Matheus Nunes, Iliman Ndiaye, Lewis, Nico O'Reilly, Allan, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Vitor Reis

PSG XI: Marquinhos, Dembele, Fabian Ruiz, Hakimi, Safonov, Vitinha, Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Zaire-Emery, Maghnes Akliouche, Doue

Subs: Digne, Lucas, Ferran Torres, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ilya Zabarnyi, Lucas Chevalier, Beraldo, João Neves, Mika Godts, Dro Fernández, Quentin Ndjantou, Adam Mouak