JAKARTA - Manchester City took a big step towards their first Champions League final after goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez made them win 2-1 over hosts Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the semifinals on Thursday morning western Indonesia time.
PSG took the lead thanks to a Marquinhos header in the first half, but Mauricio Pochettino's team lost control after halftime. Their form was undermined by De Bruyne and Mahrez who scored in eight minutes to secure City's 18th straight away win in all competitions.
PSG, who were runners-up last year, found themselves in dire straits when midfielder Idrissa Gueye was shown a straight red card in the 77th minute for a reckless tackle on Ilkay Gundogan.
Next Tuesday, the French champions must return to the same charming away form they saw when they overthrew Barcelona at Camp Nou and Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the previous round if they wanted to qualify for the final.
City dominated possession early in the game but PSG was the more dangerous side with Brazilian striker Neymar twice testing City goalkeeper Ederson.
Marquinhos, who returned to the team after an injury he sustained in the first leg of the quarter-final against Bayern, put the hosts ahead when he headed home Angel Di Maria's corner in the 15th minute.
📸 What a start! ⚽️#PSGMCI | #UCL pic.twitter.com/7y6mIBoaXs
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) April 28, 2021
A cautious City was again troubled from set-pieces when Leandro Paredes headed home Neymar's corner but the ball went wide of the net.
Pep Guardiola's team seemed to have lost their usual cool form when Joao Cancelo was shown a yellow card for a dirty tackle on Kylian Mbappe.
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The city's first real chance came in the 42nd minute when Phil Foden came close to scoring but the ball was too close to PSG keeper Keylor Navas.
The visitors were more attacking in the second half and they managed to equalize in the 64th minute when De Bruyne snatched the ball from Oleksandr Zinchenko's corner who had just replaced Cancelo to be sent to the goal of a deluded Navas when the ball curled into the far corner of the net.
Navas conceded another seven minutes later when Mahrez's free-kick slid through PSG's posse.
Gueye's red card for a wild tackle on Gundogan will make City's job easier in the second leg in Manchester.
FULL TIME | WHAT. A. WIN. 💙
🔴 1-2 🔵 #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/7A3Nl9G7tc
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 28, 2021
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