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MOTD: Manchester City 1-0 Paris Saint-Germain (3-2 agg)

By on April 12, 2016

Moments like these are what justify the hundreds of millions of pounds of investment from Abu Dhabi into Manchester City. A sense of euphoria enveloped the Etihad Stadium as Kevin de Bruyne fired home a gorgeous winner to send the Sky Blues flying past Paris Saint-Germain and into the Champions League semifinals, a landmark that has so long evaded them in their elaborate path towards European glory.

De Bruyne led City to victory with a fantastic performance in the middle that finally establishes himself among some of the best midfielders in the world. After disappointment under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, the Belgian midfielder found his stride again at Wolfsburg and has led City’s European campaign as the face of a bright new generation.

City were inventive up front and sliced through PSG’s back-line like a knife in hot butter. They could have had another goal but Sergio Aguero uncharacteristically missed a penalty in the opening stages.

PSG, on the other hand, were desperately flat just when they needed to score the most and the majority of Laurent Blanc’s men trudged off the pitch without a second look at the small corner of away fans. Some of the players, if not most, must already sense the gears beginning to move at the club and know that this was their last Champions League foray for the club.

Rumors are already engulfing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, aged thirty-four with regards to a potential summer move, and the Swede was muzzled by a resolute defensive performance from City, limited to a pair of dangerous free-kicks. The Ligue 1 title, which PSG clinched weeks ago, is small matter in comparison to the Champions League and Ibrahimovic spurred further speculation by pointing the finger back at the tactical errors of his own coach.

“In the first half we played with a new system and what happened, happened,” said Ibrahimovic, per ESPNFC. “If it had gone well, nobody would say anything, and now people will say we gave it away.

“The second half was better, when we reverted to our normal tactics, but we gave away two games.

Ibra came close early on with a smashing twenty-five yard free kick that whipped over the wall and came swerving back towards the top corner. However, Hart tipped the ball over with an acrobatic save.

Yet PSG crumbled at the back and De Buryne was allowed to turn on his man in the twenty-forth minutes with almost no pressure, played a one-two with David Silva and slipped Sergio Aguero in behind PSG’s center-backs. The Argentine midfielder fired wide but the warning signs were there.

Jesus Navas came close with a curling effort in the twenty-ninth minute after Serge Aurier misplaced a pass and Aguero won a penalty after Aurier made another dreadful mistake in the middle. Yet PSG were let off the hook when Aguero dragged his low effort wide of the post.

Hart parried another dangerous free-kick from Ibrahimovic on the other side of the half, but City’s defense came together for the first time this season to put in a resolute performance.

De Bruyne curled home twenty-five-yard strike in the seventy-ninth minute to give City the win, although PSG had never looked like threatening the home side’s aggregate advantage.

Homepage photo credit: Doha Stadium Plus Qatar from Doha, Qatar (Zlatan Ibrahimovic) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.