Manchester City's unbeaten run is over, but Iliman Ndiaye left Paris convinced the scoreline told only half the story.

PSG started flawlessly, scoring three times inside the opening 32 minutes through Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha. Maghnes Akliouche added a fourth later, and City's 2-4 defeat ended an impressive run without loss.

Erling Haaland pulled two goals back, taking his Champions League tally to 60 and climbing to seventh on the competition's all-time scorers list. He overtook Ruud van Nistelrooy and bypassed Sergio Aguero to become City's leading European scorer.

Ndiaye was one of three half-time changes made by Enzo Maresca, replacing Jeremy Doku as City chased the game. The £65 million deadline-day signing from Everton watched the first half from the bench and the second from the pitch, and the difference between the two was stark.

"Of course you have to be clinical. Obviously, you have to be focused as well from the beginning. I feel like if we don't concede these three goals, we go and win the game," the 26-year-old said.

It is a bold claim from a player still settling into a new side. But Ndiaye's second-half evidence had some merit. Maresca's message at the break was simple: attack, be braver, take chances.

"I feel he was proud of the way we reacted [after half-time]. He wanted us to attack, be braver, take chances, try and win. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, but take that second-half performance, and I feel like we just go and win any game."

That reaction, more than the result, seems to have shaped Ndiaye's view of the night. He revealed the defeat made him realise City can go and win any game, and said Maresca seemed proud of the effort his players put in.

It is a long way from the Guardiola era. Pep Guardiola departed at the end of last season after a decade in east Manchester, and Maresca is a far shot from emulating that success. But the Italian has a squad that believes, and a fixture list that offers a chance to prove it.

City now face an easier patch, starting with home meetings against Ipswich in the Premier League and AEK Athens in the Champions League. Back-to-back fixtures against Napoli and Arsenal at the end of November will tell us more.

For now, the unbeaten run is gone. The conviction, apparently, is not. Sven Jablonski blew the full-time whistle in Paris, and by the time Ndiaye spoke, the first half had already become a lesson rather than a scar.