UCL: Mbappe’s Brace Saves PSG From Juventus

Kylian Mbappe scored a pair of first-half goals as Paris Saint-Germain held on to beat Juventus 2-1 in their Champions League group stage opener at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.

The hosts got off to a cracking start on five minutes when Neymar lobbed the ball over the heads of the Juventus defence and Mbappe hit a scorching first-time volley past Mattia Perin to give PSG the lead.

Mbappe netted his second of the night — another laser first time volley past Perin — after some nice interchange in the penalty area with Achraf Hakimi setting up the France international to double PSG’s lead.

Lionel Messi set up Mbappe down the right flank as the second half got back underway, but the France forward, instead of sending the ball across to the unmarked Neymar, took his chance with a shot that went well wide.

What should have been a 3-0 turned into 2-1 when Weston McKennie, on for Fabio Miretti at half-time, headed home from a Filip Kostic cross thanks to Gianluigi Donnarumma’s ill-timed intervention, as the keeper came out but got nowhere near the ball, leaving the goal unguarded.

The Italy international, however, pulled off a brilliant save shortly afterwards to deny Dusan Vlahovic and was at it again later to block Manuel Locatelli’s attempt.

“We had a great first half, with big moments. We scored two beautiful goals and played as a compact team,” said PSG boss Christophe Galtier, leaving his Juve counterpart Massimiliano Allegri with regrets.

“We were too timid in the first half and it’s not easy to recover from such a start against such a top team,” the Italian said.

The result puts PSG level at the top of Group H along with Benfica, who beat Maccabi Haifa 2-0, on three points.

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