McCann fires Villa into Carling Cup semis
Wednesday, 17 December 2003 22:22Gavin McCann earned Aston Villa a place in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup as Chelsea fell to their second defeat in five days. McCann fired home the winner with 12 minutes left to bring some welcome joy to the Barclaycard Premiership strugglers.
Chelsea enjoyed the lion's share of the possession but they came up against a Villa side who fought as if their lives depended on the outcome. That spirit was typified by no-one more than McCann who was one of only two players that O'Leary had sufficient funds to sign in the summer along with Thomas Sorensen.
And Juan Pablo Angel made another massive contribution to Villa's cause, scoring the first goal and setting up the McCann winner. After 17 minutes a stunning solo goal from Angel gave Villa the lead - his 11th of the campaign.
The bounce of the ball deceived William Gallas and then Angel needed no second invitation to surge forward and turn past John Terry before firing a blistering 20-yard drive past Sullivan's despairing dive.
Chelsea featuring a full strength side changed formation to a 3-4-2-1 with Damien Duff playing on the right, and they never looked comfortable. Hasselbaink was up front alone and although Chelsea enjoyed a greater amount of possession the Dutchman had few clear cut chances.
But Chelsea did level matters on 69 minutes when Joe Cole tapped in following a cross from Hernan Crespo. However Villa's night was saved when man-of-the-match McCann followed up an Angel shot to hit the winner after a save from Sullivan.
Villa's reward for beating Chelsea is a semi-final against Bolton while Arsenal, who saw off West Brom last night, will face Tottenham or Middlesbrough.
Filed by Johnny Proby
