Villa Hit The Targett

In a barn-storming; fairy-tale kind of semi-final; unfancied Aston Villa caused a major upset by eliminating high-flying Leicester City 3-2 on aggregate; with a pulsating injury-time 2-1 victory in the second leg at Villa Park.

I'm afraid Brendan Rodgers got it wrong again. Starting with an unfamiliar 3-man central defence in the 1st leg; he had to change it at half-time and it ultimately left them with a 1-1 draw from their home leg. And here he did it again: with an unfamiliar 4-2-3-1 formation (even with Wilfred Ndidi back) that just didn't feel right and handed the initiative over to Dean Smith's men.

In contrast, Villa's 3-4-3 formation worked a treat; with the three-man defence of Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa and Kortney Hause solid; and the two wing-backs Frederic Guilbert & Matt Targett able to provide width and energy down the flanks. Targett in particular was combining well with star man Jack Grealish all night; and on one of their forays; Targett scored with an incisive shot after a lovely reverse flick from Grealish.

Kelechi Iheanacho has looked more dangerous as a No. 10 rather than core striker; and after Jamie Vardy came on; it was him who latched on to a cross from Harvey Barnes to equalise and take this tie once more into the balance. Credit must go to Villa reserve 'keeper Orjan Nyland; who produced a string of brilliant one-handed saves to deny James Maddison and Youri Tielemans. Leicester creator-in-chief James Maddison had about nine shots on goal; such was his endeavor and overall quality that he may be quite unlucky to end up on the losing end.

After the Leicester equaliser, it was suddenly them who looked the more likely; with the earlier Villa confidence suddenly taking a hit. Former Man Utd defender Jonathan Evans had a good chance from a corner but headed just wide with Nyland beaten. Cue injury time; and the fairy-tale moment came when the two Villa Egyptian substitutes combined for the winner; Ahmed Elmohamady producing an out-of-this-world cross for Trezeguet to strike home beautifully. Cue bedlam; with a proper 'Everton-Wimbledon' style pitch invasion the likes which Villa Park has never seen before.