Aston Villa will need to overturn a two-goal deficit when they host Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League quarter-final second leg after losing 3-1 in the French capital on Wednesday night.
The Villans took the lead in the 35th minute through Morgan Rogers, who finished off a superb team move involving John McGinn, Marcus Rashford and Youri Tielemans.
However, PSG equalised just five minutes later through Desire Doue, who fired into the top corner from around 25 yards out after being afforded too much space.
Aston Villa then fell behind early on in the second half as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia got the better of substitute Axel Disasi and rifled into the roof of the net from a tight angle.
Just as Villa were hoping to take a narrow deficit back to Villa Park, Nuno Mendes cut inside and curled an effort into Emiliano Martinez’s top corner in second-half injury time.
A number of Villa fans believe manager Unai Emery made a big mistake in the game which enabled PSG to secure victory in the second half.
Aston Villa fans slate Unai Emery for replacing Matty Cash with Axel Disasi
Some Villa supporters think Emery’s decision to replace Matty Cash with Disasi at right-back was a mistake, as the latter was easily beaten by Kvaratskhelia for PSG’s second.
“How do you play Disasi as a RB against a team with wingers that good,” one fan wrote on X. “What a tactical mistake. Why not let Cash finish the game.”
Another said: “Unai Emery made a mistake putting Disasi on right back instead of centre-back.”
The criticism kept coming, with one fan writing: “Emery messed up putting Disasi RB. Should’ve been Konsa. Konsa doesn’t get done there.”
Another said: “Cash coming off was a killer everything came down that side. Rashford didn’t really do much. Disasi was poor. Rest were excellent.”
Another said: “I do think Disasi for Cash made us worse defensively.”
How Matty Cash and Axel Disasi fared for Aston Villa against PSG
Cash’s yellow card, for a 17th-minute challenge on Kvaratskhelia, was particularly harsh and, while a lot of Villa’s threat came down his side, he struggled against the Georgian.
Meanwhile, Disasi was handed a baptism of fire against Kvaratskhelia, but overall he didn’t do too badly after that, though it can be argued the damage had been done.
PSG are a very tough team boasting a particularly impressive player in Kvaratskhelia, who few opponents will be able to handle particularly well.
Villa are next in action on Saturday afternoon when they head to already-relegated Southampton for a 3pm Premier League kick-off.
The Villans then host PSG at Villa Park on Tuesday 15 April, 8pm kick-off.
