SM
Germany vs. Scotland: 16 hrs 27 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
AV
EFL Cup | Semi-Finals
Jan 28, 2020 at 7.45pm UK
 
LL

2-1

Targett (12'), Trezeguet (93')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Iheanacho (72')

Trezeguet scores late winner to send Aston Villa to Wembley

:Headline: Result: Trezeguet scores late winner to send Aston Villa to Wembley: ID:387867: from db_amp
Villa will face either Manchester City or Manchester United in the final on March 1.

Aston Villa reached their first league cup final for a decade with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Leicester in the second leg of their semi-final at Villa Park.

Trezeguet grabbed Villa's stoppage-time winner to send the five-time victors to Wembley after Kelechi Iheanacho's second-half strike had cancelled out Matt Targett's 12th-minute opener to give Villa a 3-2 triumph on aggregate.

Villa, though, owe a huge debt of gratitude to goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, who produced three outstanding first-half saves, with boss Dean Smith opting to keep faith with the Norwegian who had served him well in the first leg at the King Power Stadium, at the expense of recent signing Pepe Reina.

Trezeguet left it until the third minute of stoppage time to grab a winner (Nick Potts/PA)

The opening 10 minutes belonged to Leicester, and Nyland in particular.

An early chest block from an acute angle to deny Iheanacho, starting with leading scorer Jamie Vardy on the bench after sustaining a glute injury in last Wednesday's 4-1 hammering of West Ham, was routine, but what followed was sublime.

A fifth-minute lay-off from Iheanacho for James Maddison resulted in a low right-footed curler that was bound for the bottom corner, only for Nyland to tip the ball beyond his left-hand post.

After Maddison had then drilled a first-time drive from just outside the area inches past the same section of the goal frame two minutes later, the midfielder was again brilliantly thwarted by a full-stretch Nyland's fingertips in the ninth minute.

What followed in the 12th from Villa was a good old-fashioned counter-punch as breaking from deep, Douglas Luiz fed Jack Grealish down the left, and after a surge into the box, the Villa skipper in turn played in the overlapping Targett.

Matt Targett fired Villa ahead against Leicester (Mike Egerton/PA)

In front of the Holte End, the defender then struck a sweet first-time drive from an acute angle beyond Kasper Schmeichel for only his second goal since his £15.6million move from Southampton in the summer.

Villa were inches away from making it 2-0 in the 15th minute, with Anwar El Ghazi curling a 25-yard free-kick fractionally over the bar after Maddison had brought down Grealish.

The goal naturally changed the momentum of the game, settling Villa, although Nyland's best in the first half was yet to come.

Letting fly from 20 yards, Youri Tielemans' curling strike was destined for the top corner, yet with a clawing right hand, Nyland managed to push the ball on to the bar, with a replay drawing gasps and applause from the home fans.

Shortly after, though, City should have been awarded a penalty, but despite a VAR check, the officials at Stockley Park failed to spot Marvelous Nakamba's block to another effort from Maddison.

Kelechi Iheanacho looked to have forced penalties, but there was to be a late twist (Mike Egerton/PA

After Grealish had fired wide from 12 yards in the 54th minute, and Vardy was thrown on by Rodgers two minutes later to find the elusive equaliser, Villa should have put the tie beyond City's reach just after the hour.

But despite a piercing delivery to the edge of the six-yard box from Grealish, new £8.5million signing Mbwana Samatta failed to get the necessary touch that would have made him an instant hero on his debut.

It proved costly as 18 minutes from time Iheanacho, who had scored City's equaliser in the first leg, repeated the trick by arriving at the far post on to Harvey Barnes' threaded ball through the six-yard box to the far post for his sixth goal in five games against Villa.

After Foxes centre-back Jonny Evans had spurned a headed chance four minutes from time, Villa then grabbed the winner in added time as two subs combined, with Ahmed Elmohamady's deep ball to the far post from the right wing met by the arriving Trezeguet to plant his shot back across Schmeichel.

amp_article__387867 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2020-01-28 22:01:08:
html db last update - 2020-01-28 22:01:08 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html
Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CManchester CityMan City38287396346291
2Arsenal38285591296289
3Liverpool382410486414582
4Aston Villa382081076611568
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs382061274611366
6Chelsea381891177631463
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle381861485622360
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd38186145758-160
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham381410146074-1452
10Crystal Palace381310155758-149
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton381212145562-748
12Bournemouth38139165467-1348
13Fulham38138175561-647
14Wolverhampton WanderersWolves38137185065-1546
15Everton38139164051-1140
16Brentford38109195665-939
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3899204967-1832
RLuton TownLuton3868245285-3326
RBurnley3859244178-3724
RSheffield UnitedSheff Utd38372835104-6916
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .