Paris Saint-Germain beat Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate to move into the semi-final of the Champions League where they will play Arsenal or holders Real Madrid.
PSG went into the game at Villa Park leading 3-1 from the first leg at the Parc des Princes in Paris. Morocco international Achraf Hakimi increased the aggregate score to 4-1 when he swept home after 11 minutes.
Fellow defender Nuno Mendes got his second goal of the tie mid way through the half to put the visitors 5-1 up and looking set to saunter into the semis.
But just before half-time, William Pacho deflected Youri Tielemans’ shot into his own net past goalkeeper Gigi Donnarumma to offer Villa a shred of respectability.
That transformed into a glimmer of hope 10 minutes after the pause.
Villa skipper John McGinn picked up the ball just inside the PSG half and barrelled forward. Unchallenged, he let fly from 30 metres and his shot rose and dipped over a befuddled Donnarumma into the net.
Donnarumma pushed away a vicious goal-bound drive from Marcus Rashford for a corner a couple of minutes later but from the ensuing kick, Villa worked the ball back to Rashford who foxed two defenders on the right wing, drove into the penalty area and cut back for Ezri Konsa to steer the ball past Donnarumma for 3-2 on the night and inflame Villa’s dreams.
Villa pushed but PSG held off the charge to slink into the semis – 5-4 on aggregate.
“Very proud of the boys,” Konsa told broadcaster Amazon Prime. “The two goals at the start killed us but we showed great heart to get back into the game. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”
PSG will take on the winners of the tie between holders Real Madrid and Arsenal who go into the game at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night leading 3-0 from the first leg at the Emirates Stadium.
“It’s going to be such a difficult semi-final whether it’s Arsenal or Real Madrid,” PSG skipper Marqinhos told Amazon Prime.
“But there’s belief we can go all the way. We knew it was going to be difficult against Villa. The tie is never won in the first leg. They scored the goals in the second-half and it wasn’t easy at times but we did what we needed to do and we are through to the next round.”
In Tuesday night’s other quarter-final, Guinea international Sehrou Guirassy hit a hat trick as Borussia Dortmund beat Barcelona 3-1 at the Signal Iduna Park.
However, the Spaniards advance 5-3 on aggregate to a semi-final clash with Inter Milan or Bayern Munich who play on Wednesday night.
Inter won the first leg in Munich 2-1.
