'Kvara-dona' steals the show as PSG downs Villa

PARIS — A wonder goal from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia upstaged a brilliant curling shot from teammate Desire Doue, as Paris Saint-Germain beat Aston Villa 3-1 in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday.

After Morgan Rogers gave Villa the lead in the 35th minute, the 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 left-back Nuno Mendes added a third goal in stoppage time at the Parc des Princes with a fine finish of his own — much to the dismay of the traveling Villa fans, among whom was Britain's Prince William.

"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 effort was easily the goal of the night.

He sprinted down the left from just past the halfway line and then mesmerized Villa's defense in a blizzard of quick feet and superb balance.

Advancing at pace with the ball seemingly glued to his right foot, he then 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 and into the roof of the net.

"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. "We tried to sign him last summer and it didn't work out. We finally signed him (in January) when we didn't really expect to. He's got everything to be part of our project."

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 Napoli, in reference to Argentine soccer maestro Diego Maradona — the Italian club's greatest ever player — and prompted PSG coach Enrique to spend 70 million euros (then $72 million) on him in the winter transfer window.

Shortly after Kvaratskhelia's goal, Martinez made a great save low to his right to deny Achraf Hakimi's powerful shot, as PSG poured forward looking for a third.

Villa is playing at this stage of the competition for the first time since 1983, and dealt with early pressure well, before taking the lead with a well-worked goal.

Bustling captain John McGinn won the ball in midfield and advanced before picking out Marcus Rashford, the forward who scored a stoppage-time winner here for Manchester United six years ago. 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, minutes later, 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. "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 Ousmane Dembele's angled strike in the eighth minute.

He couldn't do much about the goals that beat him, however, with Nuno 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."

Agencies Via Xinhua