The Argentine attacker opened his account with a splendid second-half strike as Mauricio Pochettino’s men gained a 2-0 win over Manchester City on the second match night of the UEFA Champions League group stage.
The Parisians took the lead just eight minutes into the match. Messi’s combination play, with Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi opened up space for the latter on the wing.
The Moroccan pulled the ball back into a dangerous area where it was attacked first by Neymar – who scuffed his shot – and then Idrissa Gueye, who finished emphatically into the top corner.
Despite falling behind, City took control of the match and threatened to breach Gianluigi Donnarumma’s goal on several occasions. Pep Guardiola’s men hit the crossbar twice in the same play in the 26th minute, as both Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva struck the ball against the framework.
Donnarumma also denied City from equalizing before half-time by making saves from Joao Cancelo, Kevin De Bruyne, and Ruben Dias.
City continued their onslaught after the interval, and Sterling again went close; the English international beat the offside trap but dragged his shot wide. Donnarumma later denied De Bruyne again in the 61st minute, saving the Belgian’s goal-bound shot from close range with his feet.
The main talking point of the game came in the 74th minute. Messi collected the ball on the right side of the attacking half before running inside and playing a give-and-go with Mbappe on the edge of the box. The Argentine attacker collected the ball back from the Frenchman and, subsequently, slammed it into the top corner from just inside the box.
PSG’s win saw them climb to the top of the group while City slid into third. Club Brugge secured the second spot after a 2-1 win over RB Leipzig in the other group game.
