Paris, April 9 (IANS) Goals in each half from Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia have given a dominant Paris Saint-Germain a 2-0 lead over Liverpool after the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final at the Parc des Princes.

Paris avenged their home defeat by Liverpool in last season’s knockout stage to secure a first-leg advantage in their Champions League quarter-final.

PSG dominated but lost 1-0 to Liverpool at the Parc des Princes in last season’s round of 16 – although they ultimately progressed on penalties – and any chance of a repeat of that scoreline was extinguished within 11 minutes when Desire Doue opened the scoring with a shot from just inside the box that looped off Ryan Gravenberch’s heel and over Giorgi Mamardashvili.

PSG continued to look the more dangerous, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia taking a first-time shot that forced his compatriot Mamardashvili into another save (32′).

Liverpool’s Georgian goalkeeper was on hand again a few minutes later, denying Doué a second goal following superb lead-up play from Nuno Mendes (37′). Les Rouge et Bleu headed into the break with a one-goal lead – having not conceded a single shot on target from the opposition.

The second half began in much the same vein. Paris went in search of a second goal, and Ousmane Dembele was the next to be denied after another fine run by Nuno Mendes down the left (53′). Sheer determination and patience finally paid off when Luis Enrique’s men found the net for a second time: perfectly set up by Joao Neves, Kvaratskhelia toyed with the opposition defence before applying a delightfully simple finish (2-0, 65′).

Wave after wave of attack crashed against the English side’s defence, and they narrowly escaped with a VAR penalty overule after a challenge from Ibrahima Konate on Warren Zaïre-Emery (70′). The chances were coming thick and fast for Les Rouge et Bleu, but Achraf Hakimi was denied by Mamardashvili (82′) and Dembélé saw his shot hit the post (87′).

In the dying moments of the match, Ibrahima Konate was once again spared by the referee for another clear penalty shout after yet another Nuno Mendes raid (90+2′).

PSG now take a 2-0 lead to Anfield next Tuesday for the return leg, with a place in the semi-finals at stake.

–IANS

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