Rio Ferdinand blames two Manchester City stars for PSG’s opening goal

Rio Ferdinand has slammed both Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias after Manchester City conceded a goal in the first ten minutes of their Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.

In a repeat of last season’s semi-final between these two European heavyweights, it was PSG who took the initiative, when, after eight minutes, Idrissa Gueye finished with an unstoppable shot into the top corner.

Ferdinand believes both Laporte and Dias could have done more to prevent the goal.

‘If you’re Dias you’re screaming at Laporte, get out there now and close him [Mbappe] down quicker. Because there’s enough white shirts in the box to deal with that situation,’ Ferdinand said on BT Sport.

‘The moment he stands and is in-between, the indecision is a domino effect and leaves everyone else to pick up the pieces.’

Lescott replied: “Laporte sees the potential run of Messi into and for me, Dias, if he controls that better he can voice his opinion and tell him [Laporte] to stay out wide he can then engage Mbappe a bit closer.”

Despite dominating much of the play following the goal, City struggled to find the equaliser during the first half in Paris and went in at the break 1-0 down thanks to that Gueye’s goal.

City continued to ask all the questions as the second half got underway. Indeed, Cancelo and De Bruyne both fired early warning shots.

But with City gaining in confidence, it was Messi who doubled PSG’s lead and finally scored his first goal since his high-profile transfer.