BREAKING: Man City advance to first UCL final as PSG lose heads
Manchester City advanced to their first-ever UEFA Champions League final with a brace from African superstar Riyad Mahrez securing a 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.
Mauro Icardi was handed a start up front for PSG as Kylian Mbappe was only fit enough to make the decision while only Ederson and Fernandinho were retained from City’s win over Crystal Palace.
Sum up Rúben Dias 🆚 Paris in one word… #UCL pic.twitter.com/fVXy9anDtc
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 4, 2021
The game got off to fiery start as the visitors were awarded a penalty on six minutes but after the referee checked the Video Assistant Referee monitor, he changed his mind after the ball had struck Oleksandr Zinchenko’s shoulder.
City took the lead a few minutes later as Ederson’s superb pass found Zinchenko who in-turn picked out Kevin de Bruyne on the edge of the box, but the Belgian’s shot deflected into the path of Mahrez who fired home from a tight angle.
The mission was still the same for PSG who needed to score twice and they nearly got one back when Marquinhos hit the crossbar by Di Maria curled one inches wide.
🔵 Riyad Mahrez has been directly involved in 5 goals in his last 5 Champions League games for Manchester City (3 goals, 2 assists) 🔥#UCL pic.twitter.com/UNdELspUyN
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 4, 2021
The visitors enjoyed more of the ball after that but there were unable to trouble Ederson’s goal in the latter parts of the first half.
PSG came out for the second half without Mbappe, although they still looked lively as Neymar went close to pulling one back shortly after the interval but his goal-bound strike was blocked by Zichenko.
However, it was City who got the next goal on the hour mark as a swift counter attack ended with Mahrez turning home Phil Foden’s cross to complete his brace.
It went from bad to worse for PSG on 69 minutes when Di Maria was shown a straight red card for lashing out at Fernandinho on the sidelines.
🔵 Manchester City = Champions League finalists! 🎉🎉🎉#UCL pic.twitter.com/phpDDJ2pzs
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 4, 2021
FULL-TIME: Man City 2-0 @PSG_English
The Parisians exit the @ChampionsLeague at the semi-final stage. #UCL| #MCIPSG pic.twitter.com/0GT0552IwT
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) May 4, 2021
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Foden nearly added his name to scoresheet with 13 minutes left on the clock but his low strike crashed off the upright with Keylor Navas well beaten.
Nevertheless, Mahrez’s two goals on the night was enough to secure the win and a spot in the final where they await the winner of Wednesday’s semi-final between Chelsea and Real Madrid.