Aston Villa beat local rivals West Brom on penalties to book their spot in the Championship play-off final at Wembley for the second year in a row.
Villa, if we are being honest, were a shadow of what they can be and looked nervous and jittery for the majority of normal time. However, with the huge financial awards that are at stake, it is easy to understand why.
West Brom, who were trailing 2-1 in the tie, levelled things up in the 29th minute when Craig Dawson’s header trickled in off the post. However, the build-up to that goal should not have been allowed to happen as Tyrone Mings was clearly bundled over by Jay Rodriguez.
For the first 30 minutes of the second half, it looked like the only team that would score was Albion, but Villa weathered that storm and the game turned in their favour when Chris Brunt picked up a second booking in the 80th minute.
After that red, it was all Villa, but they just couldn’t find the goal that they needed. West Brom reached their objective of taking it to penalties, but they found Jed Steer in inspired form.
He saved their first two penalties, while only Albert Adomah missed for Villa.
Dean Smith’s men will now face either Leeds or Derby on the 27th May for the right to play in the Premier League next season.
Here are our player ratings against West Brom:
