FOOTBALL – Goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue helped Paris St Germain to retain the Uefa Super Cup with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa yesterday.
PSG, back-to-back Champions League winners, went in front in the 20th minute through a stunning strike from Kvaratskhelia before Brian Madjo equalised on the stroke of halftime.
Doue put the French side back in front in the 61st minute, and Europa League winners Villa were unable to pull themselves level a second time in a game refereed by Somalian Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who was unable to take part in the World Cup after he was denied entry to the US.
“We are always hungry, we want more,” Doue said. “After the Champions League final, I said we wanted more. We have ambitions, we’re a young team, and we want to win everything again this season.”
Despite many of his squad only recently returning from the World Cup, PSG manager Luis Enrique named a formidable team, with nine starters from the side which won the Champions League final.
It took a while for PSG to find their groove, and once they did Kvaratskhelia danced through the Villa defence on more than one occasion before giving his side the lead.
Villa keeper Marco Bizot saved from Doue but moments later, Doue played a pass to Kvaratskhelia just inside the area, and the winger shimmied past defender Matty Cash before unleashing an unstoppable shot.
Madjo, making his Villa debut, had plenty of chances to equalise, but sent two headers off target, with another effort going out off the outside of the post.
Seconds before the break, the 17-year-old forward’s persistence paid off. John McGinn floated a ball towards the six-yard box and Madjo, under pressure from Willian Pacho, volleyed to the roof of the net.
Madjo, signed from Metz in January but only cleared to play last week after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld Villa’s appeal against a Fifa ruling, became the youngest-ever Uefa Super Cup scorer with his equaliser.
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