FOOTBALL – MANCHESTER City suffered their first defeat in eight matches after losing 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain in a pulsating Uefa Champions League encounter at the Etihad Stadium yesterday.
Earlier, Liverpool’s Bradley Barcola scored his first goals for the club with a hat-trick as they swept aside Champions League newcomers LASK 6-3, spoiling the Austrian side’s first home game in Europe’s elite club competition.
Ronald Araujo also opened his Liverpool account, while Jeremie Frimpong headed home and Lewis Koumas scored after twice being denied by the offside flag as Andoni Iraola’s side responded emphatically to Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League defeat by Manchester City.
The defeat was also City’s first since being found guilty of 114 breaches of financial rules.
Barcola’s hat-trick offered some welcome relief after a slow start to his Liverpool career, with the French forward facing growing scrutiny following his big-money move.
In front of a record European home crowd of 60,021, the defending champions capitalised on a devastating first-half display to establish a three-goal advantage before resisting a determined City comeback.
Desire Doue opened the scoring with a low finish following a swift counterattack before Ousmane Dembele doubled PSG’s lead two minutes later, converting Doue’s cross at the far post.
Vitinha extended the visitors’ advantage with a composed finish after another incisive move, leaving City with a mountain to climb before the interval. The hosts threatened through Josko Gvardiol and Jeremy Doku but failed to reduce the deficit before the break.
City manager Enzo Maresca responded with three substitutions at half-time, and the changes helped revive his side’s attacking intensity.
Erling Haaland pulled one back, converting Iliman Ndiaye’s cross to register his 37th Champions League goal for City, surpassing Sergio Aguero’s previous club record of 36.
However, Maghnes Akliouche restored PSG’s three-goal cushion, scoring from distance after goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma failed to keep out his effort.
City refused to surrender, with Gvardiol having a header cleared off the line while Enzo Fernandez and Haaland struck the woodwork.
In Rome, Real Madrid defeated Roma 4-3. The Madrid side were trailing 1-3 but scored three times in the final seven minutes of the match to score the win.
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