Manchester City draw first leg of Champions League quarter-final in Paris



City looked to be running into trouble at the Parc des Princes after casually allowing Zlatan Ibrahimovic to cancel out a Kevin De Bruyne strike and falling behind to an Adrien Rabiot tap-in.

But after Ibrahimovic continued to atone for an early penalty miss by heading against the bar, Fernandinho took advantage of some poor PSG defending to net a vital second away goal.

It was a compelling encounter and City can take huge encouragement from their performance, aside from a couple of lapses which included Fernando's error for PSG's first goal.

It took just 13 seconds for the game's first flashpoint as David Luiz pulled back Sergio Aguero to earn a booking that rules him out of the second leg.

It was a bright start by City and Aguero also shot over before Jesus Navas whipped in a fine cross which David Silva headed wide.

But PSG also looked dangerous and Eliaquim Mangala, who said on the eve of the game he was not scared of the hosts' formidable front line, was soon in the thick of the action.

The Frenchman had to cut out an early pass meant for Ibrahimovic and then survived a major penalty scare as Blaise Matuidi tumbled in the area after contact between the pair.

Referee Milorad Mazic was unmoved on that occasion but it was different after 12 minutes as Luiz controlled the ball and then fell over a tackle from Bacary Sagna.

Ibrahimovic stepped up to take the spot-kick but Joe Hart fully justified his selection after being rushed back from a calf injury by saving to his right.

Ibrahimovic was immediately gifted a chance to make amends for his miss as Nicolas Otamendi gave away possession but the Swede shot over.

After riding that storm, City snatched the lead after 38 minutes as Fernando seized on a stray pass by Luiz and released fellow Brazilian Fernandinho

De Bruyne timed his run into the box perfectly and finished expertly after being found by a well-weighted pass.

That put City into a position of strength but it proved fleeting as they conspired to undo a lot of their good work just three minutes later.

Fernando was too casual as he received a Hart pass on the edge of his own box and Ibrahimovic, determined not to waste another chance, pounced on the Brazilian's poor touch to equalise.

Matuidi then passed up an opportunity to put PSG ahead before receiving a yellow card which will also see him suspended for the return match early in the second half.

PSG began to turn up the heat and grabbed the lead on the hour as Rabiot followed up Hart's save from an Edinson Cavani header to score at the far post - and moments later as Ibrahimovic rattled the bar with a header.

It looked like City might have a long final half hour to hold on - but they managed to level the tie by forcing a PSG error.

Sagna found space down the right and Serge Aurier and Thiago Silva both got into a mess trying to clear his cross

Fernandinho took full advantage as he fired home, with the aid of a big deflection.

That took the sting out of the hosts and City saw out the game to give themselves the edge heading into next Tuesday''s return.

TWEET OF THE MATCH

"#PSGCITY @mcfc Good day at the office!" - Former Manchester City striker Shaun Goater (@OfficialSGoater) was pleased with the result.

PLAYER RATINGS

PARIS ST GERMAIN

Kevin Trapp: 6 (out of 10)

Serge Aurier: 6

Thiago Silva: 6

David Luiz: 6

Maxwell: 6

Adrien Rabiot: 7

Thiago Motta: 7

Blaise Matuidi: 7

Angel di Maria: 6

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: 8

Edinson Cavani: 7

Substitutes:

Gregory van der Wiel: 6

Lucas: 6

MANCHESTER CITY

Joe Hart: 8

Bacary Sagna: 6

Nicolas Otamendi: 7

Eliaquim Mangala: 7

Gael Clichy: 6

Fernando: 5

Fernandinho: 8

Jesus Navas: 7

Kevin De Bruyne: 8

David Silva: 6

Sergio Aguero: 6

Substitutes:

Fabian Delph: 6

Wilfried Bony: 5

Aleksandar Kolarov: 5

STAR MAN

Fernandinho

The Brazilian delivered for City

He set up their first goal with an inch-perfect pass for Kevin De Bruyne and then grabbed the equaliser just as PSG were threatening to turn the screw and claim a third.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

This was a breathless encounter with plenty to excite the fans

Fernandinho's equaliser was hardly a moment of great quality - particularly from the PSG point of view - but it could be vital in the overall story of the tie.

VIEW FROM THE BENCH

Not everything went according to plan for City boss Manuel Pellegrini but he can hardly be held accountable for the penalty decision or Fernando's blunder

Aside from those incidents the side sent out by the Chilean did a fine job and produced a performance of great maturity that gives them a strong chance of reaching the semi-finals

Opposite number Laurent Blanc may feel his team squandered some good opportunities to take strong command of this tie.

MOAN OF THE MATCH

It was not a good night for the TV director as coverage cut away from the live action for PSG's first goal

It was an unfortunate moment although for Fernando and numerous City fans, it was probably better that way.

WHO'S UP NEXT?

Manchester City v West Brom, Saturday, April 9 (Premier League)

Guingamp v Paris St Germain, Saturday, April 9 (Ligue 1)

Hart had a mixed night between the sticks for City - saving a penalty but also providing Fernando with a dangerous pass for PSG's calamitous equaliser - and the England keeper admits it was a breathless evening.

"It was a crazy game," he told BT Sport

"We were fully involved in it and we played our part in a pretty special night.

When asked what happened for Ibrahimovic's bizarre goal, Hart added: "I don't know

It was a terrible first goal for us to concede after being 1-0 up.

"I've given Fernando the ball and he obviously thought there was an option to pass inside and the big man put his size 15s on it and it went in.

"We don't want that to mask a good performance

We made mistakes tonight, they did, and it was an exciting game.

"A 2-2 draw is a result, we'll have to wait and see if it's a good result

Hopefully we'll make the away goals count."

City boss Pellegrini said: "Tonight is a very good result for us, we scored two goals but we made a couple of important mistakes that allowed them to score their first goal - and unfortunately for us the second goal was clearly offside.

"If we want to win we cannot make these kind of mistakes - but I think the team had personality during the whole game to try to win the game.

"We went from the beginning to score goals because this is the way we play, we don't play to try to draw

I always say that it is so important to score goals away.

"It was a very close game against a very good team which has good players

It's a game of 180 minutes, we must finish this game at home."

Source : PA

Source: PA