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Aston Villa's manager Paul Lambert reacts to a missed chance David Davies/PA Wire/Press Association Images
cup shock

Minnows Bradford hang on against Villa to march into League Cup final

The fourth-tier side are off to Wembley after a 4-3 aggregate win.

FOURTH-TIER BRADFORD City continued their League Cup fairytale by completing a sensational 4-3 aggregate semi-final win over Aston Villa tonight that sent them into the final.

After James Hanson had cancelled out Christian Benteke’s opener for Villa, Andreas Weimann scored in the 89th minute to give the hosts a 2-1 win, but it could not keep Bradford from a first major final since they won the 1911 FA Cup.

League Two side Bradford, who had previously accounted for Arsenal and Wigan Athletic in the competition, become the first team from England’s fourth level to reach the League Cup final since Rochdale in 1962.

The biggest game in the Yorkshire club’s modern history will occur at Wembley Stadium on February 24, when they will face either Chelsea or Swansea City, who resume hostilities on Wednesday with Swansea 2-0 up from the first leg.

For Paul Lambert’s Villa, it was the latest embarrassment in a disappointing season that has seen them thrashed 8-0 by Chelsea and slip to within one place of the Premier League relegation zone.

Stephen Ireland and Shay Given featured for Villa while another Donegal native Carl McHugh lined out in defence for the lower-league outfit.

- © AFP, 2012

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