By Olaitan Ibrahim
The match kicked off with a high tempo, and Villa’s Pau Torres had an early opportunity to break the deadlock in the 19th minute.
The Spanish defender latched onto a well-placed lofted cross inside the box, controlling the ball before unleashing a powerful strike at goal. However, PSG’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was equal to the task, producing a spectacular save to deny Torres’ effort.
In the 28th minute, PSG took control of the match with a clinical strike from Nuno Mendes. The Portuguese full-back received a perfectly weighted pass from Ousmane Dembele on the edge of the box, creating space for himself before firing a sensational shot into the left side of the goal, striking the woodwork on its way in. With the score at 2-0, PSG extended their aggregate lead to 5-2, giving them a comfortable cushion.
Aston Villa responded quickly, however, and halved the deficit just six minutes later. Youri Tielemans unleashed a powerful shot from the edge of the box in the 34th minute. The effort took a deflection off a PSG defender, sending it past a helpless Donnarumma and into the back of the net to make it 2-1 on the night and 5-2 on aggregate.
Villa continued to press, and in the 52nd minute, they nearly equalised. Marcus Rashford found himself in a great position to score, but Donnarumma’s remarkable reflexes kept the ball out with an incredible save.
Just one minute later, a moment of controversy struck when Dembele thought he had scored for PSG, but his effort was ruled out for offside after a flag from the assistant referee.
Then came a spectacular equaliser in the 55th minute. Villa’s captain, John McGinn, picked up the ball from outside the box and took a strike that swerved into the top right corner of the net, leaving Donnarumma rooted to the spot. The crowd erupted as the scoreline reached 2-2, and Villa were now just two goals away from pulling off a stunning turnaround.
In the 57th minute, Villa had two more chances to go ahead. First, Rashford’s shot was superbly saved by Donnarumma, and just moments later, Ezri Konsa made no mistake in a brilliant team move.
The centre-back latched onto a pass from Rashford, calmly placing the ball into the bottom right corner to make it 3-2 on the night, but still trailing 5-4 on aggregate.
Despite further efforts from Villa, including a powerful header from Tielemans that was denied by Donnarumma, PSG held firm to seal their place in the Champions League semi-finals.