Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) advanced to the Champions League semifinals after beating Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate, despite losing the second leg at Villa Park 3-2 on Wednesday morning IST.
PSG took an early two-goal lead through Achraf Hakami and Nuno Mendes, but Villa came back with goals from Youri Tielemans, John McGinn and Ezri Konsa.
Considering that PSG won the first leg 3-1, they will advance to the semifinals where they will face either Real Madrid or Arsenal.
The Villains looked dominant at the start of the first half and tried hard to reduce the deficit.
But it was PSG who took the lead in the 11th minute. Bradley Barcola started a quick PSG counterattack. His cross was cut out by Emiliano Martinez, but the rebound was pounced on by Achraf Hakimi, who scored.
Villa had a chance to equalize in the 20th minute through Pau Torres’ volley, but Gianluigi Donnarumma was quick to block the ball.
Three minutes later it was Morgan Rogers’ turn to threaten Donnarumma’s goal, but his shot went wide.
PSG doubled their lead to 2-0 in the 27th minute. On the counter-attack, Ousmane Dembele’s cutback from the left was met by Nuno Mendes’ measured shot into the right-hand corner of the home net.
Villa reduced the deficit in the 34th minute when Youri Tielemans’ shot deflected off William Pacho and into the PSG net.
Villa equalized in the 55th minute after the break. John McGinn’s long-range shot hit Pacho, who spun and left Donnarumma stranded.
The hosts took the lead two minutes later. Marcus Rashford beat a couple of players down the right flank before slipping a pass back to Ezra Konsa, who scored. That made the score 2-3, with PSG still ahead 5-4 on aggregate.
Villa almost equalized. Tielemans headed the ball across the face of goal after Marquinho’s poor clearance. Donnarumma came to the rescue with a brilliant save, pushing the ball away from the goal.
The final minutes of the match were exciting. Villa played aggressively in search of an equalizer. Meanwhile, PSG continued to threaten on the counterattack.
Achraf Hakimi broke into the box from the right, but Martinez saved his shot in the 83rd minute.
Villa could not score any more goals in the remaining time. PSG advanced to the semifinals with a 5-4 aggregate score.
Aston Villa line-up
(4-2-3-1): Emiliano Martinez; Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Ezri Konsa, Lucas Digne (76′ Ian Maatsen); Amadou Onana (67′ Jacob Ramsey), Boubacar Kamara; John McGinn (67′ Marco Asensio), Youri Tielemans (88′ Ross Barkley), Morgan Rogers; Marcus Rashford (76′ Ollie Watkins).
PSG (4-3-3): G`ianluigi Donnarumma; Achraf Hakimi, Willian Pacho, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes; Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha, Joao Neves; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola (58′ Desire Doue).
