BOSS SMITH DEFENDS FANS’ PITCH INVASION

DEAN SMITH described the pitch invasion that followed Aston Villa’s dramatic victory over Leicester as an ‘outpouring of emotion’ after the club earned a chance to win their sixth League Cup. A superb display from Jack Grealish (below) and substitute Trezeguet’s late winner put Villa through 3-2 on aggregate and they will face Manchester City or Manchester United in the Carabao Cup final on March 1. After successive Championship play-off finals, Villa have now reached Wembley for three seasons in a row. ‘I was on the pitch when we scored, it’s very difficult not to,’ said boss Smith, a lifelong Villa fan. ‘As long as the fans behave themselves, that’s fine by me. It was an outpouring of emotion. ‘Villa Park is a special place. I knew the atmosphere would be at fever pitch and the players lived up to the billing. ‘This means an awful lot. We have a proud history in this competition and if we could lift this trophy for a sixth time, I would be a very proud man. ‘We know it will be tough whoever we face but the hard part is getting to a domestic cup final.’ Villa will surely be punished, though, as jubilant fans raced on to the pitch and many ignored repeated warnings to return to their seats. Some were extremely close to Leicester players as they were escorted off the field. Leicester were denied a penalty for what looked a clear handball by Marvelous Nakamba to block a shot from James Maddison late in the first half. Mike Dean did not deem it a spot-kick and neither did VAR. ‘It looked clear,’ said Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers. ‘His arm was clearly up. You’ve seen the reaction of the players and when you see it on replay I don’t know how it wasn’t given.’