Smith’s so proud to be taking Villa to Wembley, after win over Leicester
By People Daily, January 30, 2020London, Wednesday
Aston Villa boss Dean Smith spoke of his pride after leading his boyhood club to the League Cup final with a dramatic late victory against Leicester.
Smith, a Villa fan, hailed a “goal made in Egypt” after substitutes Trezeguet and Ahmed Elmohamady combined in added time to give the hosts a 2-1 win, and a 3-2 aggregate success.
The game looked to be heading for a penalty shoot out after Kelechi Iheanacho’s second-half strike had cancelled out Matt Targett’s 12th-minute opener for Villa.
However, Trezeguet popped up at the far post to guide home Elmohamady’s deep cross on the volley and send Villa to a first final in the competition since losing to Manchester United in 2010.
“I’ve composed myself now, I certainly let myself go when we scored that goal,” said Smith.
“I’m very proud of the players, to be honest. We know how good Leicester are, and have been this season, but we made it an entertaining game, so I’m very proud of the performance and the effort that the players put in.
“We’ve got a proud history in this competition, as I’ve said many times, and if we could go and lift this trophy for a sixth time as a club then I would be a very proud man.
“We know it’s going to be tough against either Manchester United or Manchester City.
But the hard part is getting to a domestic cup final and we have managed to do that against a very good Leicester team.”
Tanzania star Mbwana Samata who completed his move to the team last week started in the match, but Villa owe a huge debt of gratitude to goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, who produced three outstanding first-half saves, and Smith admits the Norwegian has given him a selection dilemma ahead of the final on March 1. -DAILYMAIL