{"id":6039,"date":"2023-09-20T16:09:15","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T16:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/man-city-lacked-finishing-touch-guardiola-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-09-20T16:09:15","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T16:09:15","slug":"man-city-lacked-finishing-touch-guardiola-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/man-city-lacked-finishing-touch-guardiola-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Man City lacked finishing touch: Guardiola | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nPARIS:
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Manchester City overcame an early scare to get their Champions League defence off to a solid start on Tuesday but nine-man Celtic endured a rough night in Rotterdam.<\/p>\n

Barcelona cruised past Antwerp and Kylian Mbappe<\/a> helped Paris-Saint Germain to an opening win on a breathless beginning to the group stage of Europe’s top club competition.<\/p>\n

Newcastle returned to the high table of European football for the first time in two decades with a battling goalless draw against AC Milan at the San Siro and Lazio grabbed an equaliser deep in injury time to hold Atletico Madrid.<\/p>\n

In Manchester, Pep Guardiola’s<\/a> City were stunned when Red Star’s Osman Bukari opened the scoring in first half stoppage time.<\/p>\n

But Julian Alvarez continued his sparkling early season form by levelling just two minutes after the break.<\/p>\n

The Argentine then got some help from Red Star goalkeeper Omri Glazer as he flapped at Alvarez’s free-kick to allow the ball to fly into the far corner.<\/p>\n

Rodri rounded off a 3-1 win with a composed finish 17 minutes from time.<\/p>\n

“If we scored two goals early in the beginning it would’ve been completely different,” said Guardiola, who was frustrated at his side’s finishing.<\/p>\n

“Having 22 (first-half) shots on goal means you are playing really good. It has to be the responsibility of the people in front to score the goals.”<\/p>\n

City are next away to RB Leipzig, who share top place in Group E after a 3-1 win at Swiss champions Young Boys.<\/p>\n

Mohamed Simaken earned the distinction of scoring the first goal of the group stages with the 2023\/24 competition only three minutes old.<\/p>\n

The French-born defender’s header put Leipzig into a lightning lead in Berne but Elia levelled for the Swiss hosts before Xaver Schlager and Benjamin Sesko wrapped up the win for the Austrian visitors.<\/p>\n

In Catalonia Joao Felix struck twice as Barcelona flexed their muscles with a crushing 5-0 win over Royal Antwerp to show their determination to be considered among Europe’s elite once again.<\/p>\n

After consecutive humiliating group stage eliminations Barcelona are desperate to go deep in this season’s competition, last winning it eight years ago.<\/p>\n

Felix shone for the Spanish champions on a stroll on a warm night in the Catalan capital, helped on their way by an own goal, with Robert Lewandowski and Gavi also scoring.<\/p>\n

That lifted them top of Group H from Porto, 3-1 winners over Shakhtar Donetsk.<\/p>\n

Barca’s victory followed a 5-0 thrashing of Real Betis on Saturday, leading coach Xavi Hernandez to say: “I think these last two games are the best level we have shown with me as coach \u2013 it’s the path to follow.”<\/p>\n

At Parc des Princes, PSG may have lost Neymar and Lionel Messi over the summer but they held on to Mbappe who set them up for a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund.<\/p>\n

The French champions went ahead four minutes after the break when Mbappe scored a spot-kick awarded for a Niklas Suele handball.<\/p>\n

Achraf Hakimi added a memorable second, and PSG could have won the Group F encounter by a far more handsome margin in the end.<\/p>\n

“It was an almost perfect evening,” purred new coach Luis Enrique.<\/p>\n

PSG’s next date is at Newcastle, whose manager Eddie Howe was proud of his side’s dogged return to the competition against seven-time European kings AC Milan.<\/p>\n

Howe was the happier of the two managers after taking a point from the clash at the San Siro as his team were mostly on the back foot against last season’s losing semi-finalists.<\/p>\n

“Definitely pride in result and the performance and the mentality shown,” Howe told reporters.<\/p>\n

Over in Rotterdam a “bitterly disappointed” Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was left to rue the “inexperience” of two players sent off in their 2-0 loss to Feyenoord but said the Scottish champions had proved they could be competitive.<\/p>\n

Midway through the second half defender Gustaf Lagerbielke was shown a second yellow card after pulling back Brazilian striker Igor Paixao in the box. He was barely down the tunnel when substitute Odin Thiago Holm also saw red for a studs up late challenge.<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately for us, we got the two players sent off and it’s a difficult level 11 v 11, but 11 v nine is really difficult,” said Rodgers who was heartened by the “spirit and mentality” of the nine men left on the pitch.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, record 14-time winners Real Madrid host German debutants Union Berlin, and Bayern Munich with Harry Kane welcome Manchester United who are seeking solace in Europe after a troubling start to the Premier League season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n