**Paris Saint-Germain ran out 5-2 winners over Chelsea this evening at the Parc Des Princes, in the first-leg of their Champions League last 16 clash.**
Bradley Barcola opened the scoring before PSG were pegged back by Malo Gusto. However, Ousmane Dembélé put his side back ahead shortly before half-time only to see Enzo Fernandez cancel it out in the second period. It was Vitinha who provided the third for the Parisians though towards the end of the game after a mistake from the Chelsea goalkeeper, before a brace from Kvicha Kvaratskhelia who made a brief but impressive cameo from the bench, giviing Chelsea a mountain to climb in the second-half.
**As It Happened**
Liam Rosenior made ten changes to his Chelsea side ahead of this clash, with Pedro Neto the only survivor from the rotated XI that started against Wrexham on Saturday afternoon in the FA Cup. Meanwhile, PSG made just three changes following their 3-1 defeat to Monaco last time out, with Dembélé, João Neves and Marquinhos coming in from the start.
The visitors looked to make a perfect start put Joao Pedro’s shot flashed across the six-yard box. It was Neves who registered the first shot on target of the night just moments later with his long range effort comfortably saved by Filip Jörgensen. A string of Chelsea corners followed, but they were well dealt with by the PSG defence.
The hosts netted the opener shortly before the ten minute mark, as Barcola’s volley rattled in off the underside of the crossbar to give his side the lead. The Frenchman hadn’t scored a Champions League goal for over a year prior to that moment, depite being a key part of PSG’s maiden UCL title win last season.
PSG almost doubled their lead shortly after when Dembélé’s strike clattered off the woodwork following a strong save from Jörgensen. At the other end of the pitch, Neto searched for an equaliser but perhaps delayed his pass ever so slightly too long which allowed the PSG defence to regroup and deal with the threat.
The Blues continued to apply pressure, this time Pedro got a header away and forced Matvey Safanov into his first save of the game. Barcola almost doubled his tally for the night in the 24th minute, but the Chelsea goalkeeper was once again on hand to keep the score at 1-0.
Chelsea pulled themseleves level just before the half hour mark, when Gusto’s half-volley snuck underneath the keeper and bobbled over the line. However, after a cagey ten minutes, the home side regained their lead through Dembélé who’s lightning quick counter-attack ended with him burying the ball into the bottom corner.
Chelsea were nearly the masters of their own downfall as the first 45 drew to a close when Fernandez’s pass back to his goalkeeper almost fell short and handed PSG a golden opportunity but it was cleaned up by Jörgensen, bringing the first-haldf to a close with PSG 2-1 to the good.
Neither side made changes at the break, and five minutes into the second-half Cole Palmer twisted and turned in the PSG penalty area before winning his side a corner, which ultimately came to nothing. Their second equaliser came just before the hour mark, with Fernandez netting his third UCL goal of the season from inside the area.
WIth 60 minutes played, this tie was delicatly poised at 2-2 whilst both sides tried to figure out their appraoch for the final half an hour of regular time. Clearly, Luis Enrique thought his side stood a better chance of winning with Kvaratskhelia being introduced from the bench to replace Désiré Doué.
The hosts second change followed shortly after, with Dembélé making way for Kang-In Lee. PSG regained their lead with just 15 minutes left to play, when a mistake from Jörgensen was capitalised on by Vitinha who lobbed the Chelsea keeper from the edge of the box. PSG’s final changes came minutes later when Barcola and Warren Zaïre-Emery were replaced by Senny Mayulu and Lucas Hernández.
Pedro had the ball in the net for what looked to be a third Chelsea equaliser of the evening, however he was ruled offside. The Blues first changes of the evening saw Pedro and Palmer withdrawn with Liam Delap and Romeo Lavia introduced from the bench for the remainder of the match.
Enrique’s first substitution was proved to be perfect in the 85th minute when Kvaratskhelia fired a superb strike into the far corner after beating three Chelsea defenders, giving the Premier League side a mountain to climb in the second leg. Rosenior and Chelsea decided to try and cut the deficit in the final minutes with Alejandro Garnacho replacing Gusto.
Lee appeared to put the tie to bed in the 90th minute, having capitalised on yet another error from the Chelsea defence, however the offside flag saved their blushes and possibly their UCL hopes for the season. Another flashpoint came in the 91st minute when Neto clashed with a ball assistant whilst trying to restart play.
PSG did get their fifth of the night deep into injury time as Kvaratskhelia rolled the ball under Jörgensen and into the back of the net, potentially killing off the tie for the Parisians. The game finished 5-2, leaving Chelsea with a garantuan job on their hands if they are to turn this around at Stamford Bridge next week.