Brave Aston Villa falls agonisingly short of semi-final
Paris Saint-Germain survived an inspired second-half performance from Aston Villa to win its Champions League quarter-final 5-4 on aggregate, despite losing 3-2 in the second leg.
The French quickly picked up where they had left off in last week's first leg in Paris, with marauding full-back Achraf Hakimi netting the opener at Villa Park.
Just 16 minutes later, PSG's other full-back looked to have killed the tie by putting the visitor two up as he smartly finished off a breakaway while the host attacked.
But Youri Tielemans offered Villa a glimmer of hope with a deflected finish from inside the area in the 34th minute.
In the 55th minute, captain John McGinn sent Villa Park into bedlam as he levelled things on the night. McGinn picked up the ball and drove forward before catching Gianluigi Donnarumma out with a long-range strike.
Just two minutes later, Ezri Konsa finished from inside the area after being picked out by Marcus Rashford, who had carried the ball past two defenders into the area.
Now, Villa was 3-2 ahead and just one behind on aggregate with over half an hour to go.
Understandably, the host side poured forward and drew a string of fine saves from Donnarumma. Konsa was unfortunate not to get on the end of another cross, while Ian Maatsen saw a goal-bound volley blocked late on.
Ultimately, PSG was able to hang on, though it had been pushed all the way. The French side will face either Arsenal or Real Madrid in the semi-final.
