Vitinha celebrates after scoring
Paris Saint-Germain’s bid to add the FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) title to their haul of four trophies this season began with a 4-0 win over 10-man Atl9tico Madrid in Group B at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, in what was a competition debut for both sides.
A Juli1n Alvarez free-kick curling a whisker wide of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s upright inside three minutes was an early warning side for the European champions, who first forced Jan Oblak into action in the 17th minute, as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia took the ball down and struck on the turn.
The Slovenian goalkeeper was equal to that, but two minutes later he had no answer to Fabi1n Ruiz, who received a layoff from Kvaratskhelia and drilled the ball into the bottom corner.
Following the opening goal, PSG began to dominate in terms of possession, though neither side was able to show more than flashes of brilliance as they toiled in the Californian heat.
Having been forced to sit back, Atleti almost forced an equaliser when Antoine Griezmann struck a clean shot at Donnarumma, only for Les Parisiens to go straight down the other end and double their lead.
Kvaratskhelia was again the provider, this time for Vitinha, who was afforded time and space to glide into the middle of the penalty area and guide a shot past Oblak.
The attacking play that symbolised Luis Enrique’s side this season was on display again early in the second half – Nuno Mendes drove through the heart of the Atl9tico defence and set up Kvaratskhelia, whose curling strike was tipped onto the crossbar by Oblak.
Having just about stayed in the game, Los Colchoneros thought they were back within touching distance when Alvarez drilled the ball past Donnarumma, only for the goal to be disallowed by VAR for a foul in the build-up from Koke.
Hopes of an Atleti fightback was dealt a blow 11 minutes from time, after0Clement Lenglet took exception to referee Istv1n Kov1cs not punishing Senny Mayulu for charging down Oblak’s attempted roll out. Kov1cs decided Lenglet’s protests deserved a second yellow card and Diego Simeone’s side were down to 10 men.
That didn’t stop the Spanish side carving out their best chance in the minutes after, though that was only to the effect of Alexander SF8rloth blazing over from four yards.
However, PSG eventually got the third goal their performance deserved – Atleti failed to clear a dangerous Achraf Hakimi ball, and eventually Mayulu picked out the bottom corner to settle a first competitive H2H win for the French club, as Simeone was beaten by Enrique for the 10th time.
In added time, VAR spotted a handball by Robin Le Normand inside the area, and a dreadful evening for Atleti was compounded by Lee Kang-in burying the resulting penalty to make it 4-0.
If the Parisians weren’t favourites before this tournament, they will be in the eyes of some followers, after passing their toughest group stage test on paper with flying colours.
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