It took him 263 minutes — a long drought by his lofty standards, a great goals per game ratio for everyone else — but Lionel Messi got his first goal for Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night against Manchester City in the Champions League.
Manchester City looked like a world beater in its first Champions League match of the season, the type of team that can score at will, whenever it wants. Match Day 2 was a different story for Pep Guardiola’s side, and the Bernardo Silva miss vs PSG may haunt the Citizens if they’re unable to claim first place in Group A.
It was billed as the most expensive football match in the world — the $1.10 billion squad value of PSG against the $1.16 billion of Manchester City. There was also the subplot of the most expensive transfer of the summer, City’s Jack Grealish at $135.5 million, versus PSG’s acquisitions of Lionel Messi, Georginio Wijnaldum, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Achraf Hakimi. All five started.
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea ended an embarrassing streak last weekend when he saved an extra-time penalty from West Ham's Mark Noble to preserve the win for the Red Devils.
That stop marked the first time since 2016 that de Gea had saved a penalty — with that save coming against Everton's Romelu Lukaku in an FA Cup semifinal. It was also the first time since 2014 that the Spaniard had kept out a penalty during a Premier League match (which, ironically, also came against Everton).
PARIS - Lionel Messi's sensational transfer to Paris St Germain was a surprise for everyone, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said, adding that he hopes the Argentine plays in Tuesday's Champions League group game between the two sides.
Messi joined PSG in August when he left Barcelona after the Spanish club — where he had spent his entire career — were unable to finance a new deal for the forward.
The 34-year-old suffered a knock on his left knee last week and is a doubt for the clash against the team led by his former Barça coach Guardiola.
LONDON - Kim Little scored twice for Arsenal as they trounced an injury-depleted Manchester City 5-0 on Sunday with a classic counter-attacking display to climb to the top of the Women's Super League (WSL).
Samir Nasri, now 34 and without a club since briefly playing for Vincent Kompany’s Anderlecht in 2019, has announced his retirement after a mercurial career that included two Premier League titles, 41 caps for France, an international retirement at the age of 27 and one trip to the Drip Doctors in Los Angeles.
LONDON — An second-half goal from Gabriel Jesus earned Premier League champions Manchester City a deserved 1-0 win over Chelsea on Saturday and inflicted a first defeat of the season on Thomas Tuchel's side.
Jesus pushed the ball home with a deflection off Jorginho after a goalmouth melee in the 53rd minute following City's 10th corner of the game. It was the game's first shot on target.
The goal sparked the match into life, forcing Chelsea to attack, after a first half of intense pressure from City and attritional defending from the home side.
The UEFA Champions League has only played one group stage game thus far meaning it’s time to predict the semifinals. It’s almost like trying to guess the Final Four during March Madness, however this Champions League prediction will be a little different.
After the Round of 16 anything goes in terms of the Champions League draw. There runs the risk of two predicted teams meeting at some point before the semifinals. To solve this issue each of the four teams I predict to make it to the semifinals will have an alternate club to take its place.
MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City were held to a frustrating goalless draw at home by Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, despite being handed a reprieve when a VAR review led to a penalty and a red card for Kyle Walker both being overturned.
After an uneventful first half where City were well below par, Southampton thought they had been handed a golden chance to edge in front early in the second period as they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Adam Armstrong.