Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill said his side had “grown up” after they booked a place in the League Cup final with an extraordinary 6-4 semi-final second leg win over Blackburn Rovers.
Wednesday’s victory at Villa Park saw O’Neill’s men go through 7-4 on aggregate and secured the Midlands club’s first Wembley final appearance in a decade, where they will face either Manchester City or Manchester United.
But that looked a long way off as Blackburn, 1-0 down after the first leg, stormed into an early lead thanks to two goals from Croatia forward Nikola Kalinic.
Villa though hit back through Rovers old boy Stephen Warnock, a James Milner penalty and a Steven Nzonzi own-goal.
Gabriel Agbonlahor then deflected in Milner’s shot before Emile Heskey made it 5-2 on the night to Villa.
But a resilient Rovers refused to accept their fate and responded with a superb overhead kick goal from Martin Olsson.
Australia’s Brett Emerton added another goal for Rovers six minutes from time before Villa’s Ashley Young finally put the result beyond doubt late on with the tenth goal of an extraordinary match.
O’Neill’s Villa have won plaudits for their attractive play in recent seasons but what pleased O’Neill most was the character they showed against a spirited Rovers side.
“There were two games to play and I have to say, overall, I thought that we thoroughly deserved to go to Wembley,” O’Neill told reporters. “And I am genuinely delighted for the players. They showed tremendous character to come from two goals down.”
“The team really grew up, because that was certainly not the way we planned things to happen,” added O’Neill, whose side are now a match away from winning Villa’s first major trophy since they last lifted the League Cup in 1996.
“Blackburn gave us a real jolt and we were very nervous and anxious. I don’t think we were complacent at all,” he said.
O’Neill reserved special praise for midfielders Stiliyan Petrov and Milner who masterminded Villa’s comeback.
Bulgarian Petrov had to have an injection in an Achilles tendon problem at half-time and O’Neill said: “I did not expect to see him again in the tie. He was magnificent, he led that team superbly.”
“And Milner is a character and a half. His game has reached a new level, I am certain of that. Central midfield is his position and he just keeps getting better and better,” he said.
Meanwhile Rovers manager Sam Allardyce left himself open to disciplinary action after criticizing the performance of referee Martin Atkinson.
Allardyce had no argument with the 40th minute sending-off of Rovers’s Christopher Samba, for a foul on Agbonlahor, but insisted Atkinson erred badly in allowing Villa’s first goal to stand.
“There was a clear foul on Ryan Nelsen in the build-up to the first goal. Agbonlahor pushed him and made no attempt to head the ball,” Allardyce said. “The result of that is Villa’s first goal and that gives them some light at the end of the tunnel.”
He added: “A major part of the reason we are not going to Wembley is the referee. We can’t go where we want to go because of the official.”
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