Paris Saint-Germain scored two late goals, including a stoppage-time winner from substitute Eric Choupo-Moting, to beat outsider Atalanta 2-1 and end the Serie A side’s Champions League dream in their quarterfinal on Wednesday.
Despite boasting only a fraction of PSG’s spending power, Atalanta was more than equal on the pitch and went ahead when an exchange of passes ended with the ball falling to Mario Pasalic who curled his shot past Keylor Navas.
Squandering it
The first half was all about Neymar who had four good chances but squandered them all as the French side failed to find the equaliser.
Berat Djimsiti should have increased Atalanta’s lead after the break but sliced the ball wide and the game turned when PSG introduced striker Kylian Mbappe, who had not started because of an ankle injury.
Mbappe and Neymar were both denied by Marco Sportiello but, as PSG ramped up the pressure, Atalanta finally cracked. Choupo-Moting’s cross found Neymar and he touched the ball to Marquinhos to fire home from close range. Minutes later, Neymar sent Mbappe down the left and his low cross was turned in by Choupo-Moting.
Atalanta had a chance to equalise but Luis Muriel, after breaking clear, ran the ball out of play and his teammates slumped to the ground in despair as the final whistle went.
The win ended the Qatari-backed team’s embarrassing run of recent quarterfinal and round of 16 exits and send it into the last four for the first time since 1995.
The result: Paris Saint-Germain 2 (Marquinhos 90, Choupo-Moting 90+3) bt Atalanta 1 (Pasalic 27).
