Manchester City defeats Paris Saint-Germain in the third-place match.
The debut International Champions Cup women’s tournament came to a conclusion on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
The first match of the night was the third-place match in the tournament.
France’s Paris Saint-Germain faced off with England’s Manchester City in a rematch from when the teams played each other earlier this week in Portland, Ore. In that game, Manchester City came out on top.
On Sunday, Manchester City had to battle from behind, but eventually came out on top again, winning 2-1.
“I thought it was really good,” said Manchester City coach Nick Cushing. “As a preseason friendly goes, for a coach, it was almost the perfect game. Not only was it against good opposition and a real tough game, but you saw it went through every process of winning, really. We were behind, we had to show a bit of grit and resilience.”
PSG got the upper hand in the second minute, as a cross from Kadidiatou Diani deflected off a Manchester City defender and landed at the feet of PSG winger Melike Pekel, who fired it into the back of the net.
Manchester City fought to equalize the game to no avail for most of the rest of the first half, but in the last minutes before the intermission, they finally broke through.
In the 41st minute, Caroline Weir sent a corner kick into the box, where, among a crowd, Jill Scott got her head on the ball and tied the score.
Minutes later, in added time of the first half, Manchester City capitalized on a set piece again, and again it was off the foot of Weir. This time, she sent a free kick into the box, and PSG goalkeeper Christiane Endler misplayed it, running out too early and missing the ball. It flew directly to Manchester City back Mie Jans, who gave her team the lead that would hold up.
PSG had a few chances in the second half, the best of which was in the match’s final minutes, when Andrine Hegerberg ripped a shot. A diving save by Manchester City goalkeeper Karen Bardsley stopped the volley, though, and she held onto it as time expired.
“I think for us it’s been a really good experience,” Cushing said. “To play [PSG] twice and to play Lyon, they are Champions League teams, and the level of these games will prepare us for WSL and for Champions League.”
“In general it was an excellent experience,” added PSG coach Olivier Echouafni through a translator. “They came here to really get in shape and for the team and get ready to play the highest teams in the world.”