PSG stunned by Manchester City: They won by accident, says Pochettino

It was a disaster at the Parc des Princes for hosts Paris Saint-Germain as they squandered a first-half lead against Manchester City in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final clash on Wednesday. The match ended with a 1-2 victory for the Premier League side, who will be carrying a healthy away goal advantage into the second leg next week.

PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino was understandably frustrated with the result, and commented that the visitors scored only by accident. "If you see [their] goals, I think they were two accidents. But in the end, they dominated more in the second half and they created more than us. It was one half for each," he said in the post-match interview.

PSG did in fact dominate the opening half, with Neymar Jr. creating an early chance that was barely kept out by Manchester City keeper Ederson. However, Ederson was no match for Marquinos, who scored a scorching header off an Angel di Maria cross in the opening 15 minutes giving PSG the lead.

The hosts went into the dressing room for the break with high hopes, but things fell apart in the second half. Kylian Mbappe almost doubled PSG's lead but the missed opportunity became even more glaring after Kevin De Bruyne's attempt found the back of the net following a miscommunication between Keylor Navas and his defenders.

City wasn't satisfied with the equaliser, and Riyad Mahrez soon scored the winning goal that managed to squeeze past the PSG wall after Leandro Paredes and Presnel Kimpembe turned away from it at the moment of impact. Navas barely had time to react, and it was advantage to City.

Another big blow came for the hosts as they were reduced to ten men when Idrissa Gueye was shown a straight red for a studs-up challenge on Ilkay Gundogan.

PSG came into the semi-finals as favourites, but they will now go into the second leg with a major deficit. The winner of this tie will go up in the final against either Real Madrid or Chelsea, who drew their first leg match 1-1.