Birmingham, April 16 (IANS) Early goals by Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes sent Paris Saint-Germain to the UEFA Champions League semifinals 5-4 on aggregate despite losing the quarterfinals second leg 3-2 to Aston Villa.
Villa set off briskly in pursuit of a comeback after last week’s 3-1 defeat in Paris, winning two corners inside the first four minutes.
Villa’s necessarily open approach left space for pacy opponents, and PSG took full advantage when Nuno Mendes’ sublime pass to the left released Bradley Barcola, whose cross was pushed back into the path of Achraf Hakimi by Emiliano Martínez, allowing the marauding full-back to side-foot a precise finish beyond the goalkeeper, UEFA reports.
The 2019/20 finalists had Gianluigi Donnarumma to thank for keeping out Pau Torres’ strike from a tight angle, then scored again when Nuno Mendes completed another classy counterattack with a ruthless finish via a post.
Youri Tielemans’ curling attempt found the back of the net via a heavy touch off Willian Pacho 11 minutes before the break.
Villans captain John McGinn was next to profit from a deflection when his long-range shot looped over Donnarumma, who moments later was at full stretch to tip over Marcus Rashford’s shot from the edge of the penalty area.
There was little the Italy international could do when Ezri Konsa guided in a precise third goal for Villa following excellent trickery from Rashford, and Tielemans would have drawn the Premier League club level on aggregate but for a magnificent stop from Donnarumma to turn away a powerful header.
Marco Asensio – on loan from Paris – drew another exceptional save from the Paris No1, who used his legs to keep out the substitute’s shot in a one-on-one with ten minutes of a gloriously tense decider remaining.
The Ligue 1 champions needed a crucial block from Pancho to repel a goal-bound Ian Maatsen volley at the last, but Luis Enrique’s players kept their collective nerve, holding on to edge through and end Villa’s memorable debut in the Champions League.
“I’m not going to forget this match in a long time. This competition is great – you have to manage many things and it’s always difficult to play away. It was a strange match because we dominated from the first minute and scored two goals, which was great. After that, we committed some mistakes and paid for it.
“When you concede two goals in three minutes with that kind of atmosphere in a stadium, it’s always difficult. But it’s important for us, because we can grow from that suffering,” PSG manager Luis Enrique said after the win.
–IANS
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