Aston Villa 3-2 (4-5 agg) Paris Saint-Germain (Tielemans 34′, McGinn 55′, Konsa 57′ | Hakimi 11′, Mendes 27′)
VILLA PARK — Gunners overcome Real Madrid first.
An heroic fight back from Aston Villa, but it wasn’t to be against PSG… 😔
🎥 All the key moments here! pic.twitter.com/6OLdvEFICk
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt)
Emery’s side were on the ropes and almost counted out, but intent on fighting they recovered from 5-1 down on aggregate to remarkably reignite a contest, goals from Youri Tielemans, John McGinn – a stunner, at that – and Ezri Konsa taking it back to 5-4. “We wanted to go out there and prove a point,” Konsa said regarding the half-time team talk. “We showed tonight we can compete at the highest level.”
Had it not been for several saves from Donnarumma, Villa could have levelled, but the visitors clung on, losing 3-2 on the night but ultimately benefiting from Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes’ goals on the counter in the first half – likewise that goal late on in Paris last week.
For Villa’s fans, Tuesday night will have left a lingering taste for more games like this, where they played with the big boys but didn’t get burned. If anything, they proved they firmly belong in a competition after 41 years away, and can even ask themselves what might have been against a side many have down as favourites.
Tasked with being the 12th man, Villa’s supporters brought the noise, channelling the attitude Morgan Rogers exuded and called for before this tie. It had been done before so why not tonight, was the thinking, with belief a far deadlier weapon than hope.
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It appeared Emery also felt all-out attack would be self-destructive. Villa’s boss named Ollie Watkins on the bench once more, with Marcus Rashford starting up front as he had done in Paris, while the only change from that first leg – Jacob Ramsey making way for Amadou Onana – spoke of a defensive mindset that seemed to accept PSG’s strengths.
However, willed on by a crowd who had bizarrely just heard the Europa League anthem play out before the right tune was found, Villa started on the front foot and looked promising in the opening 10 minutes.
All this excitement though proved to be their undoing, with Villa caught on the counter in the 11th minute, a blistering attack that started with Rashford being intercepted ending when Emiliano Martinez palmed Bradley Barcola’s cross into the grateful path of Hakimi.
Another counter saw Mendes double PSG’s lead, but that was anything from tie over. Requiring four goals simply to force extra time, Tielemans restored a modicum of hope before the break, and shortly after a sensational looped effort from McGinn reduced the deficit once more.
JOHN MCGINN THAT IS OUTRAGEOUS 💥
The Scotsman thunders one in from range, they couldn't… could they?pic.twitter.com/VHmioNJt9P
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport)
The ground was rocking, more so when Konsa scored a third, and it was then on Donnarumma to save the day for PSG, one hand denying Rashford’s fierce strike before he got down to deny Marco Asensio as well.
More chances followed, Konsa somehow missing Rashford’s cross, Rogers firing over, Ian Maatsen’s shot blocked on the line, but there was to be no fourth that would take this match beyond 90 – much to PSG’s relief.
It called time on Villa’s Champions League journey after 12 games. They were given a 32.3 per cent chance of progressing from the league phase by Opta, and so defied expectations in reaching the last eight.
And so, having gone from once-in-a-generation stuff by simply reaching the Champions League, Villa subsequently proved that this is far from the end for them in this competition. It has lit a spark, reawakening something special in B6 that looks set to have lasting impact, whether they return next season or not.
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