Manchester City’s Loss Changes Premier League Top Spot in European Soccer News
exciting contest from start to finish and a reminder as to why we love this sport so much.First and foremost, it is worth giving the visitors credit, as they came into the game on the back of a fantastic last match, a 2-2 draw against Marseille. Many expected them to simply sit back and try to frustrate PSG – after all, that is hardly an uncommon sight when the capital club is the opposition – but manager Roberto Moreno’s side was courageous in their approach. That led to a flurry of goals in the first-half in an approach that nearly paid off.
It is hard not to feel sympathetic for AS and their situation right now. Yes, they led 2-0 against Marseille previously, but there have been various issues that have left them at a slight disadvantage in games, such as the press not being compact enough. Also in the final third, they have a tendency to be a bit too predictable, attempting the same style of passes in their attack. Thus, perhaps unsurprisingly, they didn’t wrap the points up in their previous match, and that was the real talking point when they were confronted by PSG. It seemed now there was a feeling of “what could have been” when they were a goal ahead. And so, they were once again up against a club that had a deep-seated identity crisis during the November window, just when the players needed a touch of confidence and also a slight alteration to their approach.
However, the issues remain; the team is far from settled. They might have celebrated at the full-time whistle despite the 5-2 defeat, but not because they were proud of their work, just that with 3-2 down and four minutes to go, it could have been much worse. So they left buoyant after some more patchy form and fuelled by the thrill of Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi getting back on the scoresheet after the international break.
Liverpool salvaged a point at the Etihad Stadium against Manchester City in a thrilling 1-1 draw. Kai Havertz led Arsenal to a 1-0 victory over Brentford, propelling his team to the top of the Premier League for the time being. PSG easily pushed aside AS Monaco with a resounding 5-2 win to continue their reign at the top of Ligue 1. Barcelona struggled to secure all three points in a 1-1 draw against Rayo Vallecano, failing to close the gap in the LaLiga table. Meanwhile, Harry Kane made history in Bayern Munich in their 1-0 win over Cologne. The final international break of the season concluded with some lackluster performances and surprise results across Europe.
