Alan Shearer pointed the blame at Marcus Rashford after Aston Villa went a goal down to PSG – before the Manchester United loanee redeemed himself in stunning fashion. Villa could ill-afford to concede an early goal on Tuesday night after losing the first leg 3-1 in Paris last week.
The Midlands side had threatened early, with Rashford picking up the ball on the edge of the PSG box. But a poor touch allowed PSG skipper Marquinhos to nip in and tackle him to steal the ball.
From there, the French champions delivered a brutal counter-attack, with Nuno Mendes releasing Bradley Barcola down the left. Barcola carried the ball to the edge of the box before pulling it back in search of Ousmane Dembele.
Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez stretched out to intercept the cross, but could only push the ball into the path of Achraf Hakimi, who fired in. That put PSG 4-1 up on aggregate after 11 minutes and dealt a huge blow to Villa’s hopes of progressing.
While he did admit Martinez had made an error, Shearer also singled out Rashford for his poor touch in attack. The Newcastle legend highlighted that moment as the key phase in PSG’s break.
“It was a poor touch from Marcus Rashford wasn’t it. Just on the edge of the 18 yard box. I could see what he was trying to do. He was trying to cut in on that right foot and bend it in there,” Shearer said in commentary on Amazon Prime.
“But it was a poor touch that enabled Marquinhos to get the tackle in. As soon as they won the ball back, their first thought was ‘forward’. Villa were so open at the back, particularly down their right.”
Rashford had started the game as Villa’s central striker, with Ollie Watkins surprisingly left on the bench. The Englishman is spending the second-half of the season on loan at Villa after joining them in the January transfer window from Manchester United.
While Shearer pointed the finger at Rashford for his actions, United legend Wayne Rooney insisted he was not totally to blame. Instead, he felt the attacker was left down by his team-mates.
“The first goal, they got themselves into a really good position and it’s exactly where you want Marcus Rashford. It’s a bad first touch, but as a forward you don’t expect to concede from there,” Rooney told Amazon Prime.
“From there I think Kamara should stay in the middle of the pitch after seeing Matty Cash has gone and give them that balance but he doesn’t, he gambles and goes in. From there Cash doesn’t run back quick enough and it’s a very dangerous position. Very sloppy.”
Things went from bad to worse for Villa 15 minutes after Hakimi’s goal when PSG netted a second. Again, the goal came from a counter-attack, with Hakimi finding Dembele on the right.
The Frenchman carried the ball into the box and picked out Mendes, who slotted into the bottom corner to put his side 5-1 up on aggregate. Villa were able to pull one back towards the end of a breathless first-half.
Rashford redeemed himself after that though in one of the most memorable Champions League comebacks in recent years. He helped start the fightback as he poked the ball through to John McGinn, who then laid it on for Youri Tielemans. The midfielder fired at goal, with his strike bouncing off Willian Pacho and past a helpless Gianluigi Donnarumma.
And then after the break, he was central as Villa fired in two goals in three minutes to turn the match – and tie – on it’s head. First, McGinn fired in a deflected shot to level scores on the night, before Rashford supremely assisted Ezri Konsa to put the hosts in front at Villa Park and just one goal from their illustrious French opponents on aggregate.
Rashford was withdrawn for Ollie Watkins with Villa in desperate search of a winner. But both Rashford and Villa were left heartbroken, but proud, as they exited the competition.
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