Paris Saint-Germain had been made to sweat to safe a 3-1 win over Aston Villa within the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final, coming from behind after a shock opener from the guests on Wednesday (April 9, 2025).
Morgan Rogers surprised the house crowd by placing Unai Emery’s aspect forward within the first half however PSG swiftly turned the tide as teenager Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia struck again earlier than Nuno Mendes received the third in added time to present the newly topped Ligue 1 champions a well-deserved victory.
PSG’s dominance on the ball was evident as they dictated the tempo with a mix of composed possession, technical precision, and their trademark excessive urgent beneath Luis Enrique, the coach who groomed Doue into near-stardom.
Villa, whose seven-game successful streak in all competitions got here to an finish, might want to present extra within the return leg subsequent Tuesday.
“By order of the Paris SG fans,” a banner draped over the Auteuil Kop learn — a cheeky nod to the Peaky Blinders tv collection, which takes place in Birmingham.
Emiliano Martinez, ever the villain in France who was greeted by a barrage of boos, whistles and expletives, made his presence felt, blocking Vitinha’s low shot and denying Ousmane Dembele, whose venomous half-volley appeared destined to rattle the web.
Two saves in fast succession, and the Villa keeper was proving his value early on.
High up the pitch, PSG had been suffocating Villa, swarming with intent. It was Villa, nevertheless, who transformed first on their first clear probability.
A mistake from Mendes in midfield allowed John McGinn to pounce, nicking the ball and slipping it to Youri Tielemans. The Belgian seemed up, noticed the hole, and whipped a cross into the trail of Rogers, who completed it off with an ice-cool tap-in.
Four minutes later, PSG levelled when Doue curled one in from the sting of the field, sending the ball crusing over the grounded Martinez and beneath the bar.
It was one more excellent show by the 19-year-old Doue, who scored the successful penalty within the shootout in opposition to Liverpool within the final 16.
The hosts continued to press following the break and after an excellent mixture within the midfield, Kvaratskhelia fired a shot that went in off the within of the close to publish to make it 2-1.
Achraf Hakimi got here near including one other purpose on the finish of a pointy counter-attack, just for Martinez to completely stretch to tip away the ball.
PSG had been denied a penalty declare and Hakimi had a purpose disallowed for offside however Mendes netted two minutes into added time when he reduce inside Ezri Konsa and slotted previous Martinez, who left the pitch along with his head down.
Published – April 10, 2025 03:14 am IST
