Villa into final

Aston Villa will contest the secondtier League Championship playoff final as the club seeks a return to the English Premier League after an absence of three years. Villa beat West Bromwich Albion 4-3 in a penalty shootout yesterday after their semifinal finished 2-2 on aggregate following West Brom’s 1-0 win in the second leg. Leeds and Derby are in the other playoff semifinal. Norwich and Sheffield United were promoted automatically after finishing as the top two in the regular season.