The returning European champions Paris Saint Germain won a tough game at home with a 5-2 victory over Chelsea on Wednesday. This was the first leg of two and played at Parc de Princes where the home team took a 3 goal advantage.
The Parisians drew first blood in under 10 minutes with a goal from Bradley Barcola, but it didn’t take long for the Englishmen to strike back and tie the game 1-1 with a goal from Malo Gusto. The first half then became a tug of war for possession as Chelsea began to control the pace of the game. It wasn’t until late in the first half that PSG made a massive save and countered to go up 2-1 with a strike from their leading man Ousmane Dembele in the 40th minute.
Despite the lead by the home team, Chelsea looked dangerous going into the second half. Once the second half started Chelsea looked the better team and pressured PSG. In the 57th minute Pedro Neto breaks down PSG’S defense and finds Enzo Fernandez to tie it 2-2. After this PSG subbed in their star forward Kvaratskhelia in hopes of bolstering their attack.
The game then stayed pretty even up until the 74th minute where Chelsea’s goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen made a huge error and turned the ball over costing them a goal and making the game 3-2 with a chip shot by Vitinha.
While the game looked to end at 3-2, Chelsea began to play risky which left them slightly exposed defensively. It did not take long for Kvaratskhelia to find a spot and rip a curler from outside the box to double PSG’s lead 4-2. As the game reached the final minutes PSG took advantage of another backline mistake and found Kvaratskhelia again for a last minute goal to make it 5-2 and take a comfortable lead going into the second leg.
With the first leg complete Chelsea hopes to bounce back with a strong performance at home where they would need to beat PSG by margin of 3 goals or more in order to advance in the Champions League. While PSG maintains a good lead, Chelsea remains unbeaten at home and have marked some serious wins against top teams like Barcelona. While Chelsea faces a tough battle they are one of the most dangerous teams at home and will look to upset the returning champions at Stamford Bridge in front of their home crowd.
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Rafael Casero PUR3463 