The Lions of Aston Villa - Becoming King of the Jungle Once More....

Haha oppa gangnam style loving the story mate keep it going

2012-12-20 03:08#73050 Glenn T : Brilliant updates Jason, shows why this story is so good

OPPA GANGNAM STYLE!

My respect for Randy Lerner has increased tenfold. If he had a Twitter account I would be linking him to this story

Haha so would I Glenn

2012-12-20 07:46#73055 Nolan_14 : Haha oppa gangnam style loving the story mate keep it going

Cheers dude!

SEMI FINAL FIRST LEG



ASTON VILLA 2-0 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Villa Park

Villa dominate posession throughout the game and barely give their Midlands opponents a sniff. Charles N'Zogbia goes close early on but his volley smacks the crossbar.

Villa take the lead 16 minutes in when Tiote lashes home a pass from Fernando Gago.

The chances come and go and Villa really should have wrapped the game up long before they did -Darren Bent heading home a Karim Ait Fana cross.

SEMI FINAL SECOND LEG

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 0-2 ASTON VILLA
Molineux

Villa book their place in the final of their first ever Europa League final thanks to a 2-0 win at Molineux therefore advancing 4-0 on aggregate.

Charles N'Zogbia crossed for Darren Bent to head home the first.

A superb flowing move sealed the tie with Gago and Tiote combining to find N'Zogbia on the right wing. The Frenchman cut inside and his perfectly weighted pass found Benteke who delightfully dinked the goalkeeper with his first touch.

"We're ecstatic. We're in our third final of the season, have a trophy already in the bag and can still make the Champions League. In my wildest dreams, we would never have progressed this far, this quick."
Jason Connolly

Premier League Result: Villa 1-1 Cardiff

This is great mate, can't wait to see how the season ends up!

2012-12-20 23:24#73141 lross : This is great mate, can't wait to see how the season ends up!

Three trophies and a Champions League spot I hope

This is why FM is so unrealistic... Wolves in Europa League

2012-12-21 00:44#73149 Glenn T : This is why FM is so unrealistic... Wolves in Europa League

Haha I know! Even more unrealistic... Liverpool are third in the league!!

2012-12-21 15:37#73169 jason_connolly1987 :

2012-12-21 00:44#73149 Glenn T : This is why FM is so unrealistic... Wolves in Europa League

Haha I know! Even more unrealistic... Liverpool are third in the league!!

Dick

2012-12-21 09:07#73175 Glenn T :

2012-12-21 15:37#73169 jason_connolly1987 :

2012-12-21 00:44#73149 Glenn T : This is why FM is so unrealistic... Wolves in Europa League

Haha I know! Even more unrealistic... Liverpool are third in the league!!

Dick

Is this offensive language I see being used in Stam's absence?

2012-12-21 12:05#73192 The FM Rookie :

2012-12-21 09:07#73175 Glenn T :

2012-12-21 15:37#73169 jason_connolly1987 :

2012-12-21 00:44#73149 Glenn T : This is why FM is so unrealistic... Wolves in Europa League

Haha I know! Even more unrealistic... Liverpool are third in the league!!

Dick

Is this offensive language I see being used in Stam's absence?

Haha yes it is, I'm extremely offended!!

2012-12-22 15:17#73386 jason_connolly1987 :

2012-12-21 12:05#73192 The FM Rookie :

2012-12-21 09:07#73175 Glenn T :

2012-12-21 15:37#73169 jason_connolly1987 :

2012-12-21 00:44#73149 Glenn T : This is why FM is so unrealistic... Wolves in Europa League

Haha I know! Even more unrealistic... Liverpool are third in the league!!

Dick

Is this offensive language I see being used in Stam's absence?

Haha yes it is, I'm extremely offended!!

Don't mind him anyway, he has Multiple Personality Disorder.

VILLA 1-0 FULHAM

A sluggish Villa wasted numerous chances to take out 19th placed Fulham with Christian Benteke unusually being especially error prone in front of goal. A mistake from Brede Hangland was capitalised on by Thomas Ince who slotted his fifth goal since arriving from Blackpool.

WOLVES 0-3 VILLA

A brace of headers from Darren Bent in the first half made the game safe with a poor Wolves side rarely threatening. Mason Bennett fresh from hitting 24 goals in the U19 squad comes off the bench with fifteen minutes remaining and strokes home his first senior goal from N'Zogbia's pass.

VILLA 0-0 TOTTENHAM

A drab game ends in a goalless stalemate but the result prompts wild celebrations at Villa Park......



"It's a wonderful achievement, we have done something special this season. To qualify with two games to spare is brilliant especially with so many games in such a short space of time -credit to the boys. We're straight in to the F.A. Cup and Europa League finals now, so the celebrations will be short and sober!!"
Jason Connolly

DOING THE DOUBLE???

F.A. CUP FINAL



Villa Starting XI
Ospina, Eardley, Vlaar, Albiol, Clark, Tiote, Makoun, N'Zogbia, Ait Fana, Bent, Benteke.

Chelsea Starting XI
Cech, Azpilicueta, Ruben, Terry, Luiz, Lampard, Ramires, Hazard, Oscar, Marin, Jovetic.

The bookies names Chelsea as favourites, despite Villa beating them to a Champions League spot. The supposed underdogs showed them up and produced a special performance to win their first F.A. Cup since 1957.



"It's a brilliant feeling to walk out at Wembley for a second time this season and the F.A. Cup is a special competition - we worked hard and shot out of the blocks and they had no answer for us going forward."
Darren Bent

EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL



"Aston Villa take on Germany's Bayer Leverkusen in their first ever Europa League final tonight live from the Juventus Stadium, Turin, Italy."
Gary Lineker on BBC pre-match coverage



"Villa manager Jason Connolly has named his starting line up for this historic moment in the club's history."
Gary Lineker on BBC pre-match coverage

VILLA STARTING XI
Ospina, Eardley, Vlaar, Albiol, Clark, Makoun, Tiote, N'Zogbia, Agbonlahor, Bent, Benteke.

MATCH REPORT
A pulsating ninety minutes produced everything but goals with both teams having goals disallowed, both hitting the woodwork and both having efforts cleared off the line.

The first half of extra time produced the same fireworks and chances but it wasn't until the second period that Villa grasped the game and made it their own.

Charles N'Zogbia opened the scoring when he collected Ait Fana's ball in the box and weaved his way past Kolarov before slotting home the opener on 108 minutes.

Leverkusen stormed forward but when Bender's weak shot was easily held by Ospina, with 119 minutes on the clock, the Colombian international found N'Zogbia who broke and crossed for Darren Bent who dove through the air to head Villa in to a 2-0 and now uncatchable lead.

Villa were holding the ball and running the clock down in the corners when Eardley lumped the ball in to the Leverkusen half and a terrible attempted clearance from Daniel Schwaab was collected by Christian Benteke and the big Belgian unselfishly squared for N'Zogbia to collect his second of the game and seal the rout.



"I wouldn't say I'm the best manager about but I'm defintely in the top one."
Jason Connolly after his side's treble winning third final of the season