Ten-goal thriller gets Villa to Wembley

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-22 13:17

BIRMINGHAM, England: Aston Villa booked their first Wembley final appearance in a decade after a 6-4 victory over Blackburn Rovers in the second leg of their League Cup semifinal on Wednesday.

Victory at Villa Park saw Martin O'Neill's men win the tie 7-4 on aggregate and they will now face either Manchester City or Manchester United in the final.

But his prematch claim this was the best Villa team their supporters had seen in 20 years looked hollow as a double from Nikola Kalinic put fellow Premier League side Rovers 2-0 up.

But the way in which Villa fought back and then just about held their nerve at the end of this extraordinary match left O'Neill proud of the character his youthful side had shown.

"I'm just really pleased for the team, which I know is a cliched old phrase, but I'm really delighted for them," O'Neill said. "They've had to fight back whilst the crowd was obviously getting very anxious and frustrated and they grew up tonight."

Meanwhile Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce bemoaned what he said was referee Martin Atkinson's failure to spot a shove from Gabriel Agbonlahor on captain Ryan Nelsen that allowed Rovers old boy Stephen Warnock (pictured right) to make it 2-1.

"It's a bit difficult to take, scoring four goals and not getting through to the final," Allardyce said.

"We were in complete control of the game and if anybody is going to score to make it 3-0 it's us.

"But then the referee allows a blatant foul on Ryan Nelsen to go unpunished, and at this level you have to make sure the referee gets those decisions right."

AFP