100% Commitment

The Aston Villa fans will have left the Walkers Stadium last night with the satisfaction of going into the next round of the League Cup, but it was the Leicester fans who could hold their head up high after a tremedous performance from their team.

Leicester were missing several key players going into the game and due to the shortage of players it saw Richard Stearman playing in the centre of midfield along side James Wesoloski.

Villa started the brighter and took the lead in the 6th minute. A quick break down the right wing from Gabriel Agbonlahor led to a low cross into the box that even Angel would have struggled to miss. Some of the Leicester fans might have been worried about suffering a heavy defeat after conceeding such an early goal, but Leicester dug in and rightly equalised before half time.

An Ian Hume shot was pushed out by Stuart Taylor and the ball fell kindly to Richard Stearman who slammed the ball into the back of the net. Leicester were looking to hold out until half time but a slight pull from Gareth McAuley on Petrov saw Mark Clattenburg point to the spot.

Gareth Barry made no mistake with the penalty and lashed it into the top corner. Although conceeding a goal just before half time could have knocked the confidence out of the Leicester players, they still came out and gave 100% during the second half.

Then in the 85th minute Paddy Kisnorbo got on the end of a Momo Sylla corner and powered it into the net. Everbody was expecting extra time, but then Clattenburg decided he wanted to get home early and gave another penalty to Villa. He adjudged the Sylla had pulled Sutton back in the box even though Sutton was heading away from goal.

Barry stepped up to take the penalty but this time he seemed to try and place it rather then drill it. This meant it was a perfect height for Henderson who guessed the right way and saved it. Those Leicester fans that had given up hope quickly rushed back to their seats.

Although Leicester had managed to take it to extra time it was clear that the make shift team was starting to struggle with fitness. Stearman, Wesoloski and Hume had all ran their hearts out for 90 minutes and another 30 minutes was simply too much.

The second half of extra time saw Villa pile more pressure onto the City goal and with under a minute left the City defence finally cracked.

A sliced clearance from Josh Low fell kindly to Agbonlahor and he smashed the ball past Henderson to give Villa a 3-2 lead and put the game out of Leicesters reach.

Although City had lost in the final minute most City fans will have left the stadium happy to see such dedication from the players and will hope that City will continue to show the kind of commitment for the rest of the season