PSG beat Manchester City 4-2 in Champions League encounter at Etihad
Paris Saint-Germain beat Manchester City 4-2 at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester in a Champions League match on Wednesday, their devastating first-half display proving decisive.
On a breathless night that produced 46 goals across Europe, Liverpool defeated LASK 6-3, Aston Villa routed Fenerbahce 6-0 and Real Madrid recovered to beat AS Roma 4-3. Manchester City were playing their first home game since being found guilty of 114 breaches of financial rules; the club has denied wrongdoing and appealed the verdict. The Etihad fixture unfolded against an "us against the world" backdrop, with City fans in the South Stand holding up cards that read "CTID", and former manager Pep Guardiola watching from the stands alongside chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak and senior executives Ferran Soriano and Hugo Viana.
PSG opened the scoring when Desire Doue found the net, and Ousmane Dembele followed less than two minutes later to double the lead. Warren Zaire-Emery then produced a clever touch that released Vitinha, who drove PSG's third past Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 32nd minute.
City fought back after the interval and Erling Haaland headed Iliman Ndiaye's cross in the 53rd minute to become the fastest player to reach 60 Champions League goals, hitting the landmark in 60 games compared with Lionel Messi’s previous record of 80. City's celebrations were short-lived as Maghnes Akliouche produced a stunning long-range strike that found the net despite Donnarumma getting a hand to it.
Haaland added his second in the 75th minute when he swept home Ayyoub Bouaddi's pass, but Donnarumma redeemed his earlier error by saving a penalty from Ferran Torres. The sequence of goals and the penalty save were decisive in a match that swung markedly between the two sides.
At Villa Park, Aston Villa recorded the biggest European victory in their history with a 6-0 win over Fenerbahce: Johan Manzambi opened in the 12th minute, Nicolas Jackson struck in the 31st and 39th minutes to give Villa a commanding halftime lead, Ross Barkley converted a penalty in the 68th minute and added a second in the 72nd, and Tammy Abraham completed the rout with a stoppage-time strike.
Liverpool's victory over LASK featured a hat-trick from Bradley Barcola in a 6-3 scoreline, while Real Madrid overturned a two-goal deficit at the Stadio Olimpico: Marten de Roon put Roma ahead in the 20th minute, Kylian Mbappe equalised five minutes later, Donyell Malen scored twice in the 51st and 57th minutes, Carlos Espi pulled one back in the 82nd, Endrick levelled in the 85th, and Antonio Ruediger completed the turnaround in the 90th minute from Arda Guler's corner.
PSG entered the match as twice-defending Champions League winners, and the games reported were part of the Champions League opening phase.
