ASTON THRILLA

Glory and heartbreak as Trezeguet’s late strike seals an unforgettable victory to send Villans to Wembley and the Foxes home

THE noise was deafening, the atmosphere unforgettable on a night they will never forget.

Victory in the most dramatic fashion, Trezeguet snatching the winner three minutes into injury time when it looked as though the tie was heading for penalties.

Hundreds of Aston Villa fans streamed onto the pitch at the final whistle as the stadium sang about going to Wembley.

Some Leicester players sank to their knees in despair when the Villa sub struck, but for the home side the joy was uncontrollable.

Heroes all over the pitch from their brilliant captain Jack Grealish to keeper Orjan Nyland, who made a string of sensational saves to deny the Foxes and keep his side in the contest.

It was an unpredictable, thrilling contest from the first leg to the last moments of this decider and yet, tellingly, Leicester never once led. It has to be said that Villa deserve their day of glory.

Trezeguet sealed it as he raced in at the back post to score from an excellent Ahmed Elmohamady cross.

It was a brilliant night, a defiant Villa victory defiant in nature because Nyland had almost single-handedly defied the visitors in the first half.

His first save came in the fifth minute when he pushed James Maddison’s shot round a post.

Maddison fired another effort just wide before Nyland again superbly denied the Leicester midfielder by turning a shot again behind.

It was beginning to look like it would be a testing night for Villa but on 12 minutes they went ahead and, typically, it was Grealish who played a huge part.

Douglas Luiz drove forward from midfield, played in Grealish and his perfect lay-off found Matt Targett overlapping and the left-back drilled a low shot past Kasper Schmeichel.

Villa Park has not had much to shout about this season but there is one hell of a noise generated around the stadium when they do – and this was a huge moment in their season.

Leicester were still dangerous, with Youri Tielemans forcing Nyland into action again with what was probably his best save of the lot.

Tielemans broke into the box, unleashed a powerful shot towards the top corner yet somehow Nyland tipped the ball onto the corner of post and crossbar. Then on 36 minutes came the game’s most controversial moment.

Maddison had two shots in the same attack, one hit Ezri Konsa in the chest and the other appeared to hit Marvelous Nakamba on the arm. Leicester screamed for handball and a penalty.

However, VAR appeared to check the shout against Konsa, as that was what was replayed on the big screen, rather than Nakamba’s obvious handball.

It seemed the system had hit a new low with the wrong incident being reviewed.

Villa stepped up a gear after half time, Grealish began to take charge and it seemed like an eternity until City boss Brendan Rodgers finally