Aston Villa Road to Wembley 1994 & League Cup 1993 1994 Finale vs Manchester United

 

 

Ast.Villa.Road.Wembley.1994.twb22.mp4
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The League Cup might not be the most prestigious tournament in football but this was one of Villa’s greatest performances. And greatest feats. Ron Atkinson’s side had to hit impressive heights even to get to Wembley after being allocated one of the toughest cup trails possible.

First they negotiated a tight two-leg, second-round tussle with Blues, Kevin Richardson and Dean Saunders scoring the goals in a pair of 1-0 wins. Next came an awkward trip to Sunderland. They came through in style with a 4-1 win but it wasn’t about to get easier.

The fourth round sent Villa to Arsenal and, after Dalian Atkinson’s goal earned a 1-0 win, the fifth took them to Tottenham. A 2-1 victory at White Hart Lane, secured by a goal from an unlikely source, right-back Earl Barrett, sent them through to a semi-final tussle with bang-in-form Tranmere. 

 

 

The Championship side pushed Atkinson’s men all the way before Villa triumphed in a penalty shoot-out, Mark Bosnich saving three spot-kicks having been fortunate not to be sent off earlier.After all that, at Wembley, came Manchester United, without the suspended Peter Schmeichel in goal but with the usual array of stars in front of his replacement Les Sealey.Villa’s 19-strong squad, meanwhile, travelled to London in the dark as to who was in the team for the big day. Big Ron was playing his cards close to his chest.It transpired that Atkinson had a surprise plan – and it turned out to be a master plan. After watching United draw 2-2 with Arsenal at Highbury the previous Tuesday he decided to deploy a five-man midfield, including 19-year-old Graham Fenton.The strategy took United by surprise and the match was won and lost in midfield where Villa captain Richardson was man-of-the-match and Andy Townsend was, according to Atkinson post-match, “phenomenal”.While the midfield battle was emphatically won, another hero was Welsh international Dean Saunders. Left to forage on his own up front, he still scored twice.“We said to the little fella that he was the sacrificial lamb,” said Atkinson. “He wrecked the tactics as he wasn’t supposed to score, just move about and occupy people to allow others to get forward!”

 

 

Villa were boosted before kick-off when Steve Staunton was passed fit despite not being 100 per cent due to a thigh strain.Staunton, Shaun Teale and Paul McGrath were soon looking composed at the back and Villa appeared entirely comfortable and confident with the changed formation.On 25 minutes came a moment to upgrade that confidence into belief that this was their day. Atkinson stabbed home a free-kick from Richardson and the Villa fans erupted in celebration.United’s big guns, including Cantona at his peak, floundered against Villa’s biting and snapping midfield and with 15 minutes left, the lone hero up front gave Atkinson’s men some breathing space.Richardson was again the supplier with a set-piece and this time Saunders netted. It was breathing space Villa required. Hughes pounced from an Andrei Kanchelskis corner to bring it back to 2-1 but Kanchelskis was then central to the last act of a momentous match.

When Tony Daley’s effort struck a post, Atkinson’s follow-up was kept out by a desperate handball on the line and referee Keith Cooper had no hesitation.Kanchelskis became the first winger from Kirowgrad to be sent off by a referee from Pontypridd in a cup final at Wembley.

Saunders converted the penalty. Three-one. The celebrations could begin. For chairman Doug Ellis it was a third League Cup triumph but he insisted it was on a different level to those over Norwich and Everton.

 

Aston Villa vs Tranmere Rovers

 

“This one means far more,” beamed Deadly, “because of the way we played and because it was against such a big club.”

United manager Alex Ferguson, meanwhile, was far from beaming. “Perhaps I made a mistake,” he growled, “in not playing Bryan Robson, Bryan McClair, Lee Sharpe and Dion Dublin.” His coded message: that United only lost because of team selection issues.

Well, he wasn’t going to admit they had been outplayed and that he had been totally out-thought by the man he replaced at Old Trafford was he?