Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THE CITY OF DREAMS
Pochettino learns a harsh lesson that the Blue half still reigns as the cream of Manchester
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN had a holy trinity, Manchester City had Jesus.
And it was Gabriel of that ilk who reclaimed bragging rights for Pep Guardiola’s side, his strike avenging the defeat in Paris earlier in the Champions League qualifying campaign.
And it is a qualifying campaign that will end with City going through as group winners and putting down a marker for another charge at the knockout stages.
No one will want to be paired with the Premier League champions when the draw is made after the final round of games next month. PSG are also through but this was a significant win for City, especially as they were not at full strength.
In fact, by their standards, this was Guardiola down to the bare bones, although it still does not sound right when you say Pep could only muster eight substitutes.
But that was four fewer than Mauricio Pochettino had at his disposal and when the players absent are of the calibre of Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden, the effect will obviously be felt.
Yet Guardiola does have players to step up to the creative plate, players such as Riyad Mahrez.
The Algerian step-over connoisseur, who must occasionally give himself twisted blood, was City’s deepest source of danger in a first half for the purists. Not long after Rodri’s effort had been headed off the line, a trademark Mahrez curler was booked for the top corner until another PSG head - this time belonging to Achraf Hakimi - intervened.
Predictably, the visitors were happy to operate almost exclusively on the counter-attack, which, considering their array of talent, still jarred a little.
And it was not until shortly before half-time that PSG threatened on the breakaway, Kylian Mbappe spooning a great opportunity into the stands after being released by Neymar.
But Guardiola still cut a frustrated figure as a string of decent halfchances came to nothing and goalkeeper Keylor Navas took care of another Mahrez attempt.
When news filtered through that
RB Leipzig were battering Bruges in Belgium, this contest, essentially, became something of an exhibition match, albeit a hotly-contested one.
And one thing is for certain, Pochettino’s PSG do not work as hard as Pochettino’s Tottenham did.
Well, maybe eight of them do.
But the other three are indulged because they are who they are and because they can produce match-winning moments.
There was certainly an element of fortune about the PSG opener just after half-time but all members of the super-talented trinity were involved,
Mbappe converting through Ederson’s legs (below) after an unfortunate ricochet off Kyle Walker. It was such an unexpected setback, it appeared to shake City’s confidence and, from being a very occasional threat, PSG were now a frequent one. But that sort of thing does not stop the likes of Walker from dashing into opposition territory and the England right-back’s surge and cushioned volley eventually fell to Raheem Sterling (celebrating far left) who stabbed in the equaliser off a post with the scruffiest of toepokes.
When Guardiola said, at the weekend, that Walker was in the form of his life, he was spot on.
And Bernardo Silva is in equally god nick, his clever pass setting up Jesus for the winner.
In the grand scheme of things, it is hardly a seismic win but against PSG and their holy trinity, it was still some statement.