Paris Saint-Germain defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at home on Tuesday to kick off its Champions League season. Striker Kylian Mbappé extended his scoring run, while right defender Achraf Hakimi also scored.
After a video review in the 49th minute, Mbappé’s penalty gave PSG the lead. Defender Niklas Süle was adjudged to have handled the ball following Mbappé’s strike, according to referee Jess Gil Manzano’s ruling.
The France striker scored his eighth goal in five games this season by swatting the ball into the bottom left corner and just out of Gregor Kobel’s grasp. It raised his total to 220 goals in 265 appearances, which is a club record.
Nine minutes later, Hakimi switched passes with midfielder Vitinha, cut inside a defender, and curled the ball with the outside of his right foot into the bottom left corner to beat Kobel at close range.
We’ve had a strong start to the competition, so it’s a really crucial game for us, Vitinha remarked.
In the second Group F encounter, Newcastle and seven-time European champion AC Milan missed opportunities to draw 0-0.
Despite playing with superstars Lionel Messi and Neymar in attack last season, PSG, which has never won the championship, was eliminated in the round of 16 for the second consecutive year.
This resulted in the firing of coach Christophe Galtier and the appointment of former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique.
With Messi and Neymar no longer at PSG, only Mbappé remains from that assault. Forward Randal Kolo Muani has joined them after making his debut after joining for 95 million euros ($103 million) from Eintracht Frankfurt. At Parc des Princes, Ousmane Dembélé, a former Barcelona winger, and Mbappé flanked Kolo Muani, who played center forward.
Vitinha hit the post in the 19th minute during a tense opening that saw Dutch striker Donyell Malen have a shot cleanly saved by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Near the end of a dull first half, Kolo Muani’s low shot was stopped.
Emre Can, the captain of Dortmund, remarked, “We chased the ball a lot.” “We turned the ball over too quickly, so it wasn’t a good performance.”
After the intermission, PSG picked up the pace.
Right-handed Dembélé’s cross was intercepted by Mbappé, whose shot clipped Süle’s arm as he was falling, leading to the penalty kick despite Dortmund’s objections.
Both teams’ league campaigns have gotten off to a rocky start. After losing to Nice at home last Friday, PSG is in fifth place, and Dortmund is in seventh. Nice brutally exposed PSG’s susceptibility to rapid counterattacks.
Despite the lack of attack from Dortmund under coach Edin Terzi, this was a more composed performance.
We can categorically state that we lacked courage in the first half, Terzi said. “We wanted to be braver, attack more, and leave our positions more.”
On October 4, PSG plays at Newcastle, and Dortmund hosts Milan.
