Paris Saint-Germain delivered a first-half masterclass at the Etihad, racing into a three-goal lead inside half an hour before holding off a Manchester City fightback to win 4-2 in the Champions League.
Desire Doue opened the scoring for the Ligue 1 champions, finishing off a flowing move that started with the PSG right-back and ended with their left winger, who gave Gianluigi Donnarumma the eyes to fire from range into his near post.
Ousmane Dembele, still the holder of the Ballon d'Or, headed home a cross from Doue, able to waltz in almost unmarked at the back post. Vitinha's strike took even more life out of an already shellshocked stadium.
City's first-half collapse
The hosts had little by way of clear chances before Vitinha fired home the Parisian's third of the half to all but seal the contest before the teams had swapped ends. It was the first time the Premier League side had shipped three goals in the first-half of a Champions League game at the Etihad.
The City players gathered into a huddle in the seconds after PSG's third in an effort to find solutions, but still went into the break trailing by three.
Haaland's record night
Erling Haaland scored his first of two on the night to give the home side hope, a stunning header to ignite the Etihad and write more personal history. His strike was as good as it would get for the Manchester side, who saw Maghnes Akliouche's strike from distance trickle in after Donnarumma's strong hand wasn't enough to negate the spin on the ball, before Haaland scored his second of the night after seeing an effort hit the bar.
The City forward was denied his hat-trick by a huge Matvey Safonov save in the final ten minutes, putting pay to a grandstand finish, before Ferran Torres saw a late penalty saved.
Rebuild reality check
This is a City team sat top of the Premier League. They're the only team in the top flight to boast a perfect record and they've made relatively light work of every challenge they've faced so far. But taking on PSG was a new prospect altogether, and served to highlight that City are the team in a rebuild we all thought they were.
Wednesday night served as a reminder that City are not the elite outfit they were for so many years under Pep Guardiola, who was back at the Etihad after his summer departure. Back in 2021 they made relatively light work of PSG in the semi-finals of the Champions League, but five years on and the two teams are at totally different points in their cycle.
Haaland's header was his 37th Champions League strike for City, which made him the club's all-time leading scorer in the competition. He now boasts a record of 61 goals in 60 games. Haaland currently sits seventh on the all-time list - Kylian Mbappe is the only active player ahead of him.
