By Alan Duffy
Aston Villa secured a place in next month’s FA Cup final after deservedly beating Liverpool at Wembley.
Tim Sherwood’s men started well with youngster Jack Grealish impressing in midfield and Charles N’Zogbia testing Simon Mignolet with a fine drive.
Against the run of play, it was Philippe Coutinho who would open the scoring on the half-hour mark, after a nervy touch from early sub Jores Okore (on for Nathan Baker) eventually leading to a chance for the Brazilian, who took his opportunity superbly.
However, the Villans were soon back on level terms, after fine inter-play between Fabien Delph and Grealish set up Christian Benteke who fired home.
After the break, it was the Birmingham side who continued to impress and on 54 minutes, the outstanding Delph netted the winner after more good work from Grealish.
The Reds tried to get back into the game, with Steven Gerrard seeing a header from a corner cleared off the line by Kieran Richardson.
Sub Mario Balotelli was then wrongly adjudged to be offside after firing past Shay Given.
But ultimately Sherwood’s men got what their fine performance deserved. As for Steven Gerrard, his Liverpool career won’t have a fairytale ending after all.
Here’s the highlights…
Photos: Getty Images
Highlights: Footytube