Aston Villa to face UEFA punishment after epic PSG clash
UEFA could punish Aston Villa after a plastic bottle was thrown towards referee Jose Maria Sanchez at full-time of their two-legged defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. As the official headed down the tunnel a bottle filled with liquid was thrown in his direction as a home fan vented their frustration.
The bottle narrowly missed both Sanchez and his assistants as they left the field, appearing shellshocked at the object, as the Spanish ref stared at the Trinity Road Stand where it was hurled from.
If Sanchez decides to include the incident in his UEFA match delegate’s report, the governing body may penalise Villa as a result.
A large portion of those inside Villa Park jeered when only three minutes of additional time were put on, with Unai Emery’s side pushing for an equalising goal that would have sent a thrilling tie into extra-time.
PSG, holding a 3-1 lead from the first leg in France, appeared to be in cruise control after strikes from full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes put them into a 5-1 lead on aggregate.
Youri Tielemans reduced the arrears and two goals inside three minutes from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa set up a spectacular finish.
The Villains had miraculously turned the tide and were the likelier of the two teams to get the 10th goal of the tie, if it arrived. Unfortunately for Villa, the last 33 minutes came and went without another score and PSG ended up celebrating.
There was fury over a lack of added time following the 90 minutes, despite a lack of VAR intervention and fewer substitutes made than a typical Premier League match – PSG only made one change as Desire Doue replaced Bradley Barcola.
Emery insisted that he was delighted about his side’s efforts, even though they fell just short of getting one over on the Spanish coach’s former club.
“I am very proud of everything we did,” Emery told Amazon Prime. “To get to this level is the best step forward to get to where I want to be at with Aston Villa.
“We competed well in the first leg, but not enough. We were even better today and close to coming back. The last step forward is still [missing], and this is the only [aspect] I want to [work on] for our process.”
In his press conference, Emery added: “The players showed capacity. We beat Bayern Munich (in the league phase) and we won tonight, the players showed their capacity at this level, they are here because they deserve to be here and facing matches like today.
“I want a club with same the challenges as I have – adding more quality players if we need it – so proud of these players, confident we will get our objectives until the last match we’ll face.”
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