PSG 3 – 1 Aston Villa

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Nuno Mendes scored a damaging third goal in the 92nd minute to give Paris Saint-Germain a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa in their Champions League quarter-final first leg.

Villa were seconds away from escaping Paris with only a one-goal deficit having been battered by the Ligue 1 champions, who racked up 29 shots and forced Emi Martinez into seven saves.

Morgan Rogers had put the visitors ahead against the run of play in the first half before PSG wingers Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia turned the tie around with unstoppable efforts either side of half-time, but Mendes’ added-time strike leaves Unai Emery’s side with it all to do at Villa Park.

PSG dominated from the start as Villa completed only 18 passes inside the opening 15 minutes yet they survived the early onslaught and took a shock lead in the 35th minute.

John McGinn stole the ball off left-back Mendes and drove into the PSG half, sweeping a pass out to Marcus Rashford on the left. He slipped in the overlapping Youri Tielemans to square for Rogers to tap in at the back post.

PSG responded by forcing Martinez to push Doue’s shot onto the left post but he could do nothing about the teenager’s next effort.

The 17-year-old cut inside from the left and bent a superb curling shot that clipped the underside of the crossbar before it crashed into the right corner of the net.

Martinez had to save again from Doue before the half was finished before PSG made their dominance count four minutes after the break. Kvaratskhelia turned half-time substitute Axel Disasi inside out before slamming a shot into the roof of the net.

Martinez made a sharp stop to deny Achraf Hakimi, who later managed to beat the Villa goalkeeper although was flagged offside, while Rogers and substitute Marco Asensio, playing against his parent club, both squandered half chances.

Villa, though, were unable to prevent further damage from being done as Ousmane Dembele slipped in Mendes, who sat down Ezri Konsa and Martinez before slotting into an empty net.

‘Villa won’t overturn two-goal deficit’

Sky Sports’ Paul Merson:

“I can’t see Villa overcoming a 3-1 deficit. They will need an early goal as I can’t see PSG not scoring.

“Villa were undone by three unbelievable goals. Martinez made a couple of good saves, but it was not like Alisson for Liverpool in the last round, and they were a threat on the counter

“It is just a shame to let in that third goal in the 92nd minute. PSG were the better team, but the way Villa defended, they deserved to come away with a 2-1.”

Emery: Our mindset doesn’t change – we still have to win at home

Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery said:

“It was more or less the expectation I had before the match. Maybe there is not a lot of difference between 2-1 and 3-1. We will play at home next week and it will still be a huge challenge for us, but we will feel strong at home with our supporters at Villa Park.

“Today, we needed to be disciplined in defence and even when we were losing 2-1, we had three approaches in their box. More or less, we are right in our momentum to be close to a result. The last goal we conceded, we have to accept it. Our mind doesn’t change a lot – we have to win at home and by more than one goal.

“In the first half, we had three or four chances to get in their box, maybe only one chance to score. We needed to be clinical and we were in the first half, not in the second.

“We believe in our supporters, we believe in Villa Park and that the players can get the best performance next week.”

Rogers: We have nothing to lose

Aston Villa goalscorer Morgan Rogers said:

“It was difficult, they’re a really good team who are well organised. We knew we were in a fight and a little bit of quality from them and a few errors that could have helped prevent the goals but that’s football.

“We’ve got another leg to turn it around, we’ll throw everything at them to win the tie. We’ll see where it takes us.

“We’ve got nothing to lose. No one had us to win. We have to just go for it. We’ve got the quality to turn this around. It’s not done yet.”

Enrique: Third goal boosts our confidence

PSG head coach Luis Enrique said:

“They scored that goal that felt a little difficult to accept but we just had to win that match and to score in the last minute was great for us and our confidence. We have to think about the second leg and it’s going to be difficult for sure.

“It’s important to believe in ourselves and the three goals were great, a lot of quality. We’re very happy with the result. It will be difficult (at Villa Park) but we will try to play the same way – it’s our DNA.”