Manchester City fans were unimpressed with Rico Lewis’ performance in their UEFA Champions League match with Paris Saint Germain on Wednesday, January 22. The England defender came on as a substitute but failed to make a significant impact in the 45 minutes he spent on the pitch.
Heading into the match, either team is desperately looking for a win. Manchester City occupied the last qualifying position, while PSG sat in the starting zone.
A first 45 minutes that was largely dominated by the French giants would have seen them take the lead before the break.
Achraf Hakimi thought he had given PSG the lead in the 45th minute, but he scored offside against Nuno Mendes.
Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola called up Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis after the restart.
While Luis Enrique continued to dominate proceedings after the restart, it was the reigning Premier League champions that opened the scoring first.
Grealish gave Manchester City the lead in the 50th minute, burying a loose ball coming his way. Three minutes later, he set up Erling Haaland with a deflected pass to double City’s lead.
Undeterred, Paris Saint Germain continued to crank up the pressure, and they were back on level terms exactly on the hour mark. Ousmane Dembele halved the deficit in the 56th minute while Bradley Barcola restored parity four minutes later.
The game was turned on its head in the 78th minute as Joao Neves headed in Vitinha’s set piece at the back post to complete PSG’s turnaround.
Gonçalo Ramos put an end to the situation in the third minute of stoppage time to give the Parisians a much-needed 4-2 win that put them back into the qualifying places with a way of playing.
While all Manchester City defenders had a game to forget, Rico Lewis was appallingly poor. The 20-year-old was the lowest-rated Manchester City defender along with John Stones as per Sofascore, with a rating of 6.1.
In the game’s aftermath, fans took to X to berate him for his performance.
User X wrote:
Another tweeted:
Pep Guardiola insisted PSG were better than his Manchester City team after their 4-2 defeat at the Parc des Princes.
The Spaniard claimed that the Ligue 1 giants had an extra player in the middle and a false nine, which made the game difficult for them.
Guardiola said on Manchester City’s website:
Added:
After a 4-2 defeat, Manchester City now find themselves at the exit zone of the UCL standings. They currently occupy position 25 with eight defeats after seven games.
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