Paris, September 7 (BNA): Kylian Mbappe played the role of the main tormentor when Paris Saint-Germain started its Champions League campaign by beating Juventus 2-1 at home, which was his first victory over the Italian team.
Mbappe opened the scoring with a stunning goal and added a second in the first half before substitute Weston McKinney narrowed the difference after the first half as the French champions fell significantly, Reuters reported.
Juventus had chances to equalize, but goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma saved several good saves to make up for a fatal mistake in the visitors’ goal to ensure that Paris St. Germain beat the Italian team for the first time in nine matches, after losing the last six matches.
Christophe Galtier’s team is tied in Group H with three points with Benfica, who beat Maccabi Haifa 2-0.
“We had a great first half, with big moments. We scored two great goals and played as a small team,” said Galtier, leaving his counterpart Massimiliano Allegri with regret.
“We were very shy in the first half and it is not easy to recover from such a start against a big team,” the Italian coach said.
Thick smoke from torches and firecrackers before the match was still in the air as PSG advanced in stunning fashion, with Mbappe smashing into the net with Neymar’s superb shot over the Juventus defense five minutes later.
Vitina and Marco Verratti managed to dominate the midfield, countering counter-attacks to get the hosts off to a strong start.
Juventus struggled with Paris Saint-Germain on the left flank, but had a chance in the 18th minute when Donnarumma saved Arcadius Milik with a superb chance.
But PSG doubled their advantage after four minutes, finishing off Mbappe from inside the area immediately after a quick two-goal with Achraf Hakimi to score his eighth goal in his last seven Champions League matches.
In just 22 minutes, Juventus conceded as many goals as in the first five Serie A matches.
The hosts absorbed some moderate pressure from the Italian side before pressing forward again after the first half as Neymar forced Mattia Perin to save in the 49th minute.
Then Lionel Messi sent Mbappe on the right flank but the France striker, instead of sending the ball to Neymar unmarked, took his chance with a shot that went wide.
What should have been 3-0 turned 2-1 when McKinney headed home from a Phillip Costek pass, taking advantage of an ill-timed Donnarumma intervention, as the goalkeeper ran out but didn’t get close to the ball, leaving the goal unguarded.
However, the Italy international managed a brilliant save shortly thereafter to deny Dusan Vlahovic a replay later to block Manuel Locatelli’s attempt.