A wonder goal from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on Wednesday upstaged a brilliant curling shot from teammate Desire Doue as Paris Saint-Germain beat Aston Villa 3-1 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final.
Morgan Rogers gave Villa the lead in the 35th minute, but 19-year-old Doue drew PSG level four minutes later with the 12th goal of his breakthrough season.
Kvaratskhelia put PSG in front four minutes after the break and leftback Nuno Mendes added a third goal in stoppage-time with a fine finish of his own.
Photo: AFP
“I think the result reflects the difference between us and them,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique, whose side has greater firepower and showed more of a threat going forward. “Our objective is to keep the ball and be aggressive in attack.”
Kvaratskhelia’s was the goal of the night.
He sprinted down the left from just over the halfway line and then mesmerized Villa’s defense in a blizzard of quick feet and superb balance.
Photo: AP
Advancing at pace with the ball seemingly glued to his right foot, he wrong-footed defender Axel Disasi with a sudden change of direction before rolling the ball onto his left foot in one smooth motion and blasting an unstoppable shot over the head of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
“For a coach like me it’s so great to have a player like him, with his mentality. He scored a brilliant goal,” Enrique said of Kvaratskhelia. “We tried to sign him last summer and it didn’t work out. We signed him [in January] when we didn’t really expect to. He’s got everything to be part of our project.”
The return leg is scheduled for Tuesday next week.
Photo: Reuters
In Wednesday’s other game, five-time champions Barcelona crushed Borussia Dortmund 4-0, with veteran striker Robert Lewandowski scoring twice on either side of goals from Raphinha and Lamine Yamal.
Kvaratskhelia belongs in such elite company.
His goal was exactly the kind of effort that earned the flying Georgia winger the nickname “Kvaradona” when he was playing for SSC Napoli, in reference to Diego Maradona — the Italian club’s greatest-ever player — and prompted PSG coach Luis Enrique to spend 70 million euros (US$72 million) on him in the winter transfer window.
Photo: AP
Shortly after Kvaratskhelia’s goal, Martinez made a great save low to his right against Achraf Hakimi’s powerful shot as PSG poured forward looking for a third goal.
Villa are at this stage of the competition for the first time since 1983 and dealt well with early pressure before taking the lead with a well-worked goal.
Captain John McGinn won the ball in midfield and advanced before picking out Marcus Rashford. Rashford fed Youri Tielemans overlapping down the left and he pinged a cross to the back post where Rogers was left unmarked to tap in.
The lead was brief as Doue picked up the ball on the left of the penalty area, skipped past two players and curled the ball into the top-right corner.
“He’s got everything he needs to become a great player,” Enrique said of Doue. “He really doesn’t need much space to dribble.”
Martinez played long balls early on to test PSG’s defense, but he was soon called into action with a flying save from Dembele’s angled strike in the eighth minute.
However, he could not do much about the goals that beat him, with Mendes showing a forward’s touch when he latched onto Dembele’s pass, cut inside a defender and deftly guided the ball in.
“We’ve watched their last few games and know how deadly and sharp they’ve been,” Rogers said. “They’ve put the world on notice now.”
Villa coach Unai Emery believes he can still eliminate the club he coached from 2016 to 2018.
“I believe we will win next week,” Emery said. “Villa Park is our home.”
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