PSG Retain UEFA Super Cup After Narrow Win Over Aston Villa
Paris Saint-Germain retained the UEFA Super Cup after beating a spirited Aston Villa 2-1 in Salzburg.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia gave the Champions League holders the lead in the 20th minute with a fine finish.
Villa responded just before half-time through 17-year-old Brian Madjo, who volleyed in John McGinn’s cross at the back post in the 45th minute.
Madjo became the youngest player to score in the UEFA Super Cup on his debut for Villa. The England Under-17 international had earlier missed two good chances, shooting wide before heading over.
His goal was the perfect end to an eight-month wait to play for Villa. He joined from Metz for £10m in January but was initially unable to play after Fifa banned Villa from registering him. Villa later won an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) at the start of August.
Madjo remained a physical threat to the PSG defence, but his effort was not enough to stop the French side from lifting the trophy for the second year in a row.
Desire Doue scored the winning goal in the 62nd minute after a VAR check for a possible offside. The goal sealed another European trophy for PSG, who beat Tottenham on penalties to win last year’s Super Cup.
Villa, who qualified after winning the Europa League in May, created several chances and forced PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov into a number of important saves.
The defeat also extended Unai Emery’s poor record in the UEFA Super Cup, with the Villa boss now having lost all four finals he has contested with Sevilla and Villarreal.
The match also made history as Somali referee Omar Artan became the first non-European official to take charge of the UEFA Super Cup. Artan had previously been denied entry into the United States for this summer’s World Cup.
