Emiliano Martinez’s playful expression at the end said it all. Aston Villa may not be as strong as PSG, but they still managed to win at Villa Park. However, the 3-1 loss in Paris last week made things difficult. Even with a 3-2 home win, Aston Villa was knocked out in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, PSG move on to the semi-finals despite the defeat. It’s their second straight year reaching the last four of the Champions League. Now, they will wait to see whether they face Real Madrid or Arsenal next.
PSG were close to being knocked out of the match, but just like in the game against Liverpool, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was their hero again. The Italian made at least two big saves that stopped Aston Villa from scoring sure goals. Aston Villa put up a strong fight but still missed out on a spot in the semi-finals, largely because of Donnarumma’s efforts.
In the 11th minute, PSG got their first goal after Villa’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez failed to catch the ball cleanly. It landed at Achraf Hakimi’s feet, who easily scored. That made the total score 4-1 for PSG. Then, in the 27th minute, Nuno Mendes scored another, making it 5-1 overall.
Villa began to fight back in the 34th minute when Youri Tielemans’ shot deflected off a PSG defender and went in. The home fans came alive. The first half ended without more goals, and PSG still led 5-2 on total goals.
In the 55th minute, John McGinn scored with a powerful shot from outside the box, making it 5-3. Just two minutes later, Ezri Konsa added another goal after getting the ball from Marcus Rashford. Now it was 5-4 on aggregate.
There was plenty of time left, and Villa pushed hard for another goal. But Donnarumma stood strong and blocked everything. In added time, Ian Maatsen created a great chance, but PSG’s Pacho blocked the shot right in front of the goal.
Even though PSG lost this match 3-2, they stayed ahead overall and moved on to the semi-finals. After beating Liverpool in the round of 16, they’ve now knocked out another English team in the quarter-finals.
