Paris Saint-Germain delivered a blistering first-half performance to seize control of their Club World Cup semi-final clash against Real Madrid, racing into a 3-0 lead within the opening 30 minutes at MetLife Stadium on Wednesday evening. Luis Enrique's side came out firing in front of a packed crowd, exposing a disorganised Madrid backline to score three unanswered goals in what was the most chaotic opening half of the Xabi Alonso era.
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Real Madrid defenders make costly mistakesFind themselves trailing 3-0 to PSGLos Blancos struggling to get a foothold in the matchFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
For the opening goal, Fabian Ruiz found himself in the right place at the right time to calmly finish from close range after Raul Ascensio was robbed of possession by an alert Ousmane Dembele inside the box. Just minutes later, PSG doubled their advantage. This time, Antonio Rudiger was sloppy and Dembele pickpocketed him, too. With acres of space ahead of him, the Frenchman sprinted towards goal and with supreme composure, he slotted the ball past Thibaut Courtois to make it 2-0.
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Rudiger and Ascensio's errors were emblematic of Madrid’s defensive instability throughout the first half. The absence of young centre-back Dean Huijsen, suspended after his red card in the quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund, was felt keenly as Alonso's men looked disorganised and unsure with the ball at their feet.
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This fixture marked the earliest Madrid have conceded three goals in a match since a 2003 clash against Sevilla, a stat that underlined the extent of the defensive collapse. The usually-composed Courtois found himself picking the ball out of the net for a third time before the half-hour mark after Ruiz scored his second of the afternoon after Achraf Hakimi fed him with a delicious pass.
