JESUS THE SAVIOUR
City come from behind to pip Poch and reach last 16
MANCHESTER CITY will be seeded in the champions league knockout stages after last night’s rousing comeback victory over Paris Saint-germain.
in a rematch of last season’s semi-final, Raheem Sterling equalised after Kylian Mbappe’s opener before gabriel Jesus scored to cap a pulsating night inside a white-hot etihad Stadium.
city guaranteed top spot in group a and their manager Pep guardiola heaped praise on his team for their consistency so far this season.
‘if we had lost the game, what could i say? We lost in Paris and the performance was quite similar,’ guardiola said.
‘The importance is to be ourselves and at chelsea, liverpool, Brighton, Paris, we played really well. Football
is random. How you perform is the consistency. The way we are performing is really good. ‘We’re enjoying it and hopefully we can sustain this consistency for as long as possible. ‘PSG, what a team. We tried to keep their players far away from our goal. ‘It was a really top performance. Congratulations to the team and the club, many years in a row in the last 16.’ City secured the result without injured pair Jack Grealish and Phil Foden, while Kevin De Bruyne remains in self-isolation after testing positive for coronavirus. Man of the match Bernardo Silva dedicated the win to the defensive diligence of City’s midfield — and revealed his personal mission to thwart Neymar. ‘I told him I cannot let him play,’ Silva said. ‘I know his quality. I know if I let him go to the goal he will be dangerous. ‘I stopped him from playing because we had to win. ‘The first half was frustrating. I felt like we had the ball and we were pressing well but we just weren’t scoring. You are never safe against PSG. Even when you think you are controlling the game, if you give a little bit of space to Neymar, Mbappe or (Lionel) Messi they can be dangerous.’ Jesus said of his team-mate: ‘Bernardo is one of the best players in the world right now. ‘His quality as a football player is incredible but he has another thing — he always works so hard. ‘We have a lot of players that can help the team. Everyone wants to give good balls to other players. Nobody is selfish.’ PSG also qualified as runners-up, with Mauricio Pochettino again reluctant to discuss his future. ‘The players know very well our situation,’ he said. ‘We are living in a business where rumours are there. It is not a thing to talk about the rumours. ‘The first half we started well. They were very aggressive in the way they pressed. There were some good things but things we need to improve on. We started the second half really well and had the game under control but the circumstances changed. ‘We need to give credit to City, they are a really good team.’