{"id":136173,"date":"2021-09-28T21:26:01","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T21:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=136173"},"modified":"2021-09-29T00:58:25","modified_gmt":"2021-09-29T00:58:25","slug":"messis-superb-debut-psg-goal-helps-down-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=136173","title":{"rendered":"Messi's superb debut PSG goal helps down City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lionel Messi's<\/a> superb first goal for Paris Saint-Germain punished former coach Pep Guardiola's team as PSG<\/a> beat Manchester City 2-0 in the Champions League group stage.<\/p>\n

Watch Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo and football's biggest superstars in the<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0UEFA Champions League<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0with every match streaming ad-free, live and on-demand only on Stan Sport from September 15. Start your seven day free trial<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Messi charged from midfield toward the penalty area in the 74th minute, opening up more space as Achraf Hakimi made a dummy run to his right, and received a clever flick from Kylian Mbappe before curling a fine strike into the top right corner with the most famed left foot in world soccer.<\/p>\n

"I\u2019m very happy to have scored. I\u2019ve not been playing much recently and I\u2019m adapting to my teammates little by little," Messi said through a translator. \u201cThe more we play together the better it will become. We need to grow together and increase our level."<\/p>\n

\"Champions<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Gallen's warning to NRL stars amid new scandal<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> David Warner dropped by IPL team<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Messi netted an astounding 672 goals for Barca but it was his first for PSG in three starts and four games overall since a shock summer move from the Spanish club.<\/p>\n

It was the kind he scored for fun playing under Guardiola there. The pair won the Champions League in 2009 and 2011, with the six-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner scoring in both finals.<\/p>\n

\"Champions<\/p>\n

City had not lost its five previous meetings with PSG, winning 2-1 in Paris and 2-0 at home in last season\u2019s semifinals before losing to Chelsea in the final.<\/p>\n

PSG started its dream attack of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe, but it was unheralded midfielder Idrissa Gueye who opened the scoring in the eighth minute.<\/p>\n

\"Champions<\/p>\n

He thumped the ball into the top corner after Neymar\u2019s scuffed shot fell to him just inside the penalty area following Mbappe\u2019s cross from the right.<\/p>\n

City should have equalized in the 26th, but instead produced a contender for miss of the season.<\/p>\n

Raheem Sterling\u2019s header from Kevin De Bruyne's cross hit the crossbar and the ball fell to winger Bernardo Silva less than two meters out. But Silva somehow scooped the ball onto the bar with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma beaten.<\/p>\n

\"Champions<\/p>\n

Donnarumma and opposite number Ederson then made a smart save each in an even first half that De Bruyne was perhaps lucky to finish, receiving only a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Gueye's shin.<\/p>\n

Sterling dragged a shot wide early in the second half as City caught PSG's defense asleep down the left.<\/p>\n

Donnarumma then kicked away De Bruyne's shot in the 54th as City exposed poor defending on the other flank as the Premier League champion took control.<\/p>\n

\"Champions<\/p>\n

PSG's glittering attack looked flat, as it did in a 1-1 draw against Club Brugge. Neymar shot into the side netting midway through the second half, with Mbappe in a better position.<\/p>\n

Then Messi lit up Parc des Princes with a glimpse of things to come, at the stadium where he scored his last Champions League goal for Barcelona last season.<\/p>\n

PSG tops Group A and is level with Club Brugge with four points, while City is third with three points. Club Brugge won 2-1 at last-place Leipzig.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lionel Messi's superb first goal for Paris Saint-Germain punished former coach Pep Guardiola's team as PSG beat Manchester City 2-0 in the Champions League group […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136173"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=136173"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136175,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136173\/revisions\/136175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=136173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=136173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=136173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}