Nine-man European champions Paris Saint-Germain defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 on Saturday in the Club World Cup quarterfinals in Atlanta, advancing to the semifinals where they will face the winner of the match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, who will meet later.
Desire Doue (78) and substitute Ousmane Dembélé (90+6) scored for PSG, who finished the match with nine men after Ecuadorian defender William Pacho (82) and substitute Lucas Hernandez (90+2). Bayern's Jamal Musiala also suffered a serious injury and left the field (45+3).
At the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Bayern dominated possession from the start of the match, applying intense pressure on the European champions, who were without their star player Dembélé, a top candidate to win the Ballon d'Or for the world's best player, after his Spanish coach Luis Enrique decided to once again bench him.
The first half, which ended in a goalless draw, witnessed a series of dangerous chances for both teams. Doue shot wide after a pass from Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (3), followed by a weak shot from Bayern's French striker Mickael Oliseh (6), and another from his Austrian defensive colleague Konrad Laimer that went over (8). Exceptional saves were made by Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma against Oliseh (27) and Manuel Neuer against Kvaratskhelia (32).
English striker Harry Kane almost opened the scoring for Bayern, but his shot went wide (38). Donnarumma, meanwhile, stood firm against Bayern's midfielder Musiala (41), who suffered a serious injury three minutes later after twisting his ankle upon contact with the ground and left the field on a stretcher. Serge Gnabry replaced him after the break. French defender Dayot Upamecano thought he had opened the scoring for Bayern after a free kick from his compatriot Oliseh, but his header was ruled out for offside (45+1).
Saint-Germain continued to waste chances in the second half, with Moroccan Achraf Hakimi firing home a free kick (47) and a minute later Bradley Barcola easily saving it from Neuer.
Olisse fired a shot over goalkeeper Donnarumma (61) and another over the bar (66). Neuer almost made a mistake when he accidentally passed the ball to Kvaratskhelia, who then failed to save it. However, Dembélé, who had just entered the fray, pushed forward but strangely failed to score (73).
Doue opened the scoring for PSG after Portuguese Joao Neves thwarted a Bavarian counterattack and exchanged passes with Hakimi. Doue found the ball on the edge of the penalty area, and the latter fired a low shot to the near post, which Neuer was unable to stop (78).
Bachou was sent off for kicking Leon Goretzka during a tussle over a high ball (82), before former Bayern player Hernandez was sent off in the second minute of stoppage time for elbowing Portuguese substitute Raphael Guerreiro.
Against the run of play, Dembélé, who had hit the crossbar shortly before, scored with his right foot after a brilliant individual effort by Hakimi, who dribbled past three Bavarians (90+6).
The drama escalated after the referee awarded a penalty kick to Portugal's Nuno Mendes for raising his foot high in front of veteran Thomas Müller. VAR then reversed the penalty and blew the final whistle, announcing the European champions' victory.
.jpg)
0 Comments