Haaland leads fightback but it’s not enough, Barcola bags Liverpool hat-trick, Villa hit six in record European win

Manchester City’s 4-2 defeat by Paris St Germain told only part of the story of Enzo Maresca’s first loss as City boss, with his men staggering through the first half before roaring back after the break.

Playing their first home game since an independent commission found them guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules, City were staring at a rout when a rampant PSG raced into a 3-0 lead with a first-half masterclass.

Then City woke up.

Maresca’s side tore into the visitors after halftime, pouring forward with an intensity and urgency that had been entirely absent in the opening 45 minutes.

Erling Haaland spearheaded the fightback, scoring twice to become the fastest player to reach 60 Champions League goals, hitting the mark in just 60 games, 20 quicker than Lionel Messi.

City kept coming. They finished with nearly twice as many shots as PSG and around three times as many touches in the opposition box, while recording a higher expected-goals figure at both halftime and fulltime. PSG, though, were more ruthless.

“I think we start quite well until the first goal [from Désiré Doué in the 13th minute] and then we conceded the second one [by Ousmane Dembélé] after one minute. That created some bad feelings,” Maresca told TNT Sports.

“In the second half, we were much better and probably deserved something more.”

City had arrived on the back of a 3-0 thrashing of Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday and Maresca felt they generated enough chances to salvage something even after digging themselves a three-goal hole.

“Even at 3-0 [down] in the first half, with the amount of chances we created in the second half, we deserved more,” he said. “Luis [Enrique, PSG’s manager] said at the end of the game that they were quite lucky today.

“You have to be clinical but not lose the balance.”

The defeat unfolded against a backdrop of turmoil stretching far beyond City, with the fallout from the seismic verdict over the 114 breaches sending shockwaves through the Premier League and making City the villains of English football in the eyes of many.

They have denied wrongdoing and have appealed.

On the pitch, they remain three points clear of Arsenal atop the Premier League table ahead of Saturday’s home game against Ipswich.

Asked if he had a message for supporters, Maresca said: “We are sorry for the first half for sure. Saturday is a Premier League game and we need to continue our run.”

Twice-defending champions PSG‘s devastating first-half display proved decisive.

On a breathless night featuring 46 goals, Bradley Barcola scored a hat-trick in Liverpool’s 6-3 thrashing of LASK, Aston Villa recorded the biggest European victory in their history with a 6-0 thrashing of Fenerbahce and Real Madrid staged a stunning late comeback to beat AS Roma 4-3.

But no fixture carried more intrigue than the Etihad clash, where City played their first home game since being found guilty of 114 breaches of financial rules.

City, who have denied all wrongdoing and appealed the verdict, were carved open by PSG in the first half.

Doué and Dembélé scored less than two minutes apart before Warren Zaire-Emery’s clever touch released Vitinha to drive the third beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 32nd minute.

City emerged transformed after the break and Erling Haaland headed in Iliman Ndiaye’s cross in the 53rd minute to become the fastest player to reach 60 Champions League goals, hitting the landmark in 60 games compared with Lionel Messi’s previous record of 80.

City’s joy was short-lived as Maghnes Akliouche’s stunning long-range strike found the net despite Donnarumma getting a hand to it.

Haaland had the City fans on their feet when he swept home Ayyoub Bouaddi’s pass in the 75th minute for his second, before Donnarumma made up for his blunder by saving a penalty from Ferran Torres.

The match unfolded against an “us against the world” backdrop, with City fans in the South Stand holding up cards that read “CTID” (City Till I Die).

Former City manager Pep Guardiola watched from the stands alongside chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak and senior executives Ferran Soriano and Hugo Viana.

At Villa Park, Nicolas Jackson and Ross Barkley both scored twice in a dominant display by the hosts. Johan Manzambi opened the scoring in the 12th minute before Jackson struck in the 31st and 39th minutes to give Villa a commanding halftime lead.

In the second half, we were much better and probably deserved something more.

—  Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca

Barkley added a fourth from the penalty spot in the 68th minute before grabbing his second four minutes later, while Tammy Abraham completed the rout with a stoppage-time strike.

At the Stadio Olimpico, Real Madrid scored three times in the closing stages to overturn a two-goal deficit.

Marten de Roon gave Roma the lead in the 20th minute before Kylian Mbappe equalised five minutes later, but Donyell Malen struck twice in the 51st and 57th minutes to put the hosts in control.

However, the visitors mounted a remarkable comeback as Carlos Espi pulled a goal back in the 82nd minute before Endrick levelled three minutes later.

Former Roma defender Antonio Ruediger then completed the turnaround in the 90th minute, holding off his marker to steer home Arda Guler’s inswinging corner from close range and snatch victory for the Spanish side.

Liverpool’s Barcola, meanwhile, scored his first goals for the club with his hat-trick in their rout of Champions League newcomers LASK in Austria.

Ronald Araujo, Jeremie Frimpong and Lewis Koumas also scored for Andoni Iraola’s side, who bounced back from Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League defeat by City. Florian Flecker struck twice for the hosts.