After six wins from six in the Premier League, City had an air of invincibility about them coming into this clash, but the reigning European champions swiftly brought them back down to earth.
The Parisians flexed their muscles from the get-go and opened the scoring in scintillating style on 13 minutes when a stunning passing move saw PSG go from one end of the pitch to the other before Desire Doue added the finishing touches from the edge of the area.
Doue was influential in Luis Enrique’s men doubling their advantage too, as his measured ball to the far post was headed home by the unmarked Ousmane Dembele just two minutes later.
Enzo Maresca’s men were given a warning sign that the game could be placed beyond them when Achraf Hakimi diverted a header against the base of the post, and that proved to be a warning sign they didn’t heed.
The woodwork was still shaking when another impressive goal was rounded off by Vitinha on the edge of the area, who swept home after Warren Zaire-Emery’s deft flick perfectly teed him up.
City ought to have gone into the break four goals behind when Hakimi tamely fired straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma, with their only real chance of saving face coming and going when Josko Gvardiol headed a corner wide five minutes before half-time.
City made a triple sub at the break in response, but it was two of their mainstays in Antoine Semenyo and Enzo Fernandez who created a gilt-edged chance to reduce the arrears, though the diminutive Argentine headed wide from six yards at the far post.
Iliman Ndiaye was one of those introduced at the break, and he made an impact eight minutes after the restart when his cross was flicked in by Erling Haaland, who became the club’s all-time record scorer in the UCL.
Belief of a comeback was short-lived though, as a Donnarumma error saw PSG restore their three-goal cushion, inadvertently palming Maghnes Akliouche’s effort up into the air before watching on with despair as the ball dropped over the line.
City continued to come forward and saw Gvardiol, Fernandez and Haaland come close to finding a second goal, and the Norwegian did eventually double his tally for the evening when he swept home Ayyoub Bouaddi’s cutback.
PSG missed a great opportunity to make the closing stages more comfortable when Ferran Torres missed a penalty in the final five minutes, but it wasn’t enough to prevent PSG from not only securing a fifth competitive win in a row, but also ending the Cityzens’ eight-match victorious streak in the process.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Desire Doue (Paris Saint-Germain)
