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Second-half goals from Kylian Mbappe and Bradley Barcola secured Paris Saint-Germain a hard-fought 2-0 win over visitors Real Sociedad in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie.

The Basque club, who arrived at the Parc des Princes unbeaten in this year’s competition after topping Group D, were arguably the better side until Mbappe fired home a volley after he pounced onto Marquinhos’ corner to give PSG the lead in the 58th minute.

Three minutes later, Barcola extended PSG’s advantage as he nudged the ball through the legs of the goalkeeper Alex Remiro. Sociedad went scoreless for a fifth straight game in all competitions.

“We managed to score at key moments in the game. We have a good lead,” Mbappe told broadcaster Canal Plus. “The clean sheet is important for us, we’ve been looking for that in the Champions League, although it’s true that they (Sociedad) have not been scoring much at the moment.

“It’s evident that we had trouble getting out of their pressing game in the first half. We should have shown more character to get out of it, as we were eight (players) against six.

“The return leg will be more open, they will attack more and we will be given more space. If we get the space over 40 metres, I think we will score over there.”

Marquinhos said coach Luis Enrique gave the players a stern talking-to at the break.

“He was very angry in the dressing room, and that’s good,” Marquinhos said. “It’s important for the team. He managed to motivate us to bring the ball out more from the back.”

Mbappe’s goal took the pressure off his teammates and allowed the 21-year-old Barcola — a summer signing from Lyon — more freedom to attack and net his first goal in the Champions League.

“It’s a childhood dream come true,” Barcola said.

Reuters

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