Wayne Rooney has blamed Aston Villa’s fans for their side’s poor start to their Champions League second leg clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
Villa had to overturn a two-goal deficit going into the game, having lost 3-1 in Paris last week against arguably what has been Europe’s most in-form side of the last few weeks.
After a bright first few minutes, though, they cam undone, falling first to Achraf Hakimi’s goal before fellow full back Nuno Mendes netted his second goal of the tie to put the visitors 5-1 up on aggregate.
The strikes silenced a previously almost-electric Villa Park, with fans knowing their side would have a mountain to climb in the form of a four-goal margin – though they did cut that to just one in the second half.
Villa boss Unai Emery had pledged to play a different game in the second leg at Villa Park, after his side enjoyed only 30 per cent possession in France six days earlier.
Early on, Villa employed a high press, but were caught out twice in the opening 11 minutes to find themselves 2-0 on the night – and, according to Rooney, the fans were to blame, not Emery.
‘We saw it at the Chelsea game where players are influenced by the crowd,’ he said on Amazon Prime punditry. ‘Fans would have come here today and players react to that.
‘There should be leaders on the pitch who say to slow down or you are out of the game before you know it.’
More to follow.
