Paris Saint-Germain reserved their spot in the FIFA Club World Cup semi-finals by beating fellow European heavyweights Bayern Munich 2-0, ending a four-match losing run against the German side in the process.
As a result of the dearth of attacking quality on show in Atlanta, it took 20 minutes for either side to manufacture a clear sighting of goal, when a slick PSG move terminated with Desire Doué cutting the ball support for Fabián Ruiz on the edge of the area, but he swept an effort over the crossbar.
The pair traded blows from there, and Bayern managed to obtain their first meaningful effort on target through Michael Olise, but Gianluigi Donnarumma was equal to his stinging steer.
The pendulum swiftly swung support in the Parisians’ favour as they created the best chance of the game just after the half-hour mark.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia took matters into his own hands, weaving past the Bayern defence only to see his low steer repelled by the legs of Manuel Neuer.
The game duly swung support Bayern’s way, and Donnarumma was picking the ball out of the support of the net on the stroke of half-time as Dayot Upamecano led home Olise’s free-kick, only for the assistant referee’s flag to cut short Bayern’s celebrations.
A nasty injury to Jamal Musiala in the dying seconds of the first half dampened Bayern’s enthusiasm, and things almost moved from bad to worse when Bradley Barcola raced clear on goal within five minutes of the restart, but Neuer produced a huge save to bail his side out.
He then possessed his pocket picked 20 yards from goal, but as the ball dropped favourably to Ousmane Dembele with no one in the Bayern goal, he incredibly saw his effort trickle inches wide of the target.
Bayern’s resistance was eventually broken a little over 10 minutes from time through the good work of Doue, who was engaged in the construct-up before getting the ball support on the edge of the area and cutting an effort into the near post which wrong-footed Neuer.
Doue's openerOpta by StatsPerform / Kevin C.
Cox / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFPThe Parisians made seeing the game out much harder than it ought to have been when, just five minutes after nosing ahead, Willian Pacho’s shin-high challenge on Leon Goretzka acquired him a red card.
That looked to be a costly misjudgment from Pacho when Harry Kane led home what he thought was an equaliser, but for the second time on the evening, the offside flag bailed PSG out.
The Parisians’ goal was under immense pressure in six minutes of stoppage time, and their quest wasn’t assisted by being reduced to nine men when Lucas Hernández was sent off for an elbow on Raphael Guerreiro.
Even two men down, they still managed to add a second through Dembele with one of the last kicks of the game.
A crazy contest possessed one final twist when Bayern were granted a penalty in stoppage time, but referee Anthony Taylor overturned his decision after checking the pitchside monitor, meaning PSG rubber stamped their ticket to the semi-finals as they close in on adding to the quadruple of trophies they won in the regular season.
Betopick Man of the Match: Joao Neves (PSG)Click here for more over the match.
The match momentumOpta by StatsPerform_______________________________________________BetopickFIFA Club World Cup - Every Game Free, exclusively on DAZN.
Sign up here to start streaming.
_______________________________________________
