Birmingham, Apr. 16 (BNA): Paris Saint-Germain staved off a gallant fightback by Aston Villa to reach the semifinals of Europe’s top competition despite a 3-2 loss to the English club on Tuesday.

Holding a 3-1 lead from last week’s quarterfinal first leg, PSG built a four-goal cushion thanks to goals by full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes inside 27 minutes at Villa Park.

Villa, cheered on by Prince William, roared back thanks to a deflected shot before halftime by Youri Tielemans and then goals in two minutes from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa by the 57th.

Only a string of brilliant stops from PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma denied Villa a fourth goal that would have taken the match to extra time and seen the French club blow another four-goal lead, just like it did famously when losing to Barcelona in 2017, when current Villa manager Unai Emery was in charge of PSG.

PSG advanced 5-4 on aggregate to knock out a second Premier League team, after Liverpool in the round of 16. Next up could be another in Arsenal, which leads Real Madrid 3-0 from the first leg.

H.K