
EFL Championship play-off semi-final results:
1st leg
Both matches were played on Saturday 11th May
Aston Villa 2 West Bromwich Albion 1
Derby County 0 Leeds United 1
2nd leg
Tuesday 14th May
West Bromwich Albion 1 Aston Villa 0 (2-2 on aggregate, Aston Villa win 4-3 on penalties)
Wednesday 15th May
Leeds United 2 Derby County 4 (Derby County win 4-3 on aggregate)
Round-up:
In the 1st leg of the play-off semi-finals, Aston Villa came from behind to win 2-1 against West Bromwich Albion. Dwight Gayle gave West Brom the lead in the first half, before Conor Hourihane equalised with a quarter of an hour to go, and then Tammy Abraham scored from the penalty spot after Kieran Gibbs was adjudged to have fouled Jack Grealish in the penalty area. Dwight Gayle went from hero to villain as he got a second yellow card for sliding in late on Aston Villa goalkeeper Jed Steer, meaning he would be suspended for the second leg.
Meanwhile, in the other semi-final 1st leg, Leeds United gave themselves a slender lead after they edged Derby County out 1-0 thanks to a goal from Kemar Roofe, whilst Derby County were initially awarded a penalty after referee Craig Pawson deemed that Jack Harrison brought down Jayden Bogle, but the decision was overturned and a Leeds United free kick was given after Pawson consulted with his assistant referee.
In the 2nd leg of the semi-finals, West Bromwich Albion's Craig Dawson headed West Brom in front on the night inside the opening half-hour, which levelled the tie on aggregate. Chris Brunt was sent off for West Bromwich Albion in the 80th minute after getting a second yellow card, but Aston Villa could not take advantage and find the equalising goal which would have taken them to Wembley, so it went to extra-time (a reminder that the away goals rule in the play-offs does not count). Neither side was able to find that decisive goal in extra-time either, and so the match went to penalties.
West Bromwich Albion started first, and had their first penalty, and Aston Villa's Conor Hourihane took full advantage by converting to give them the lead. West Brom's next penalty was also saved, and Mile Jedinak took full advantage to double Aston Villa’s penalty shootout lead. Aston Villa's fourth penalty taker Albert Adomah would have sealed Aston Villa's place in the final but blazed his spot kick over, and James Morrison scored for West Brom to make it 3-3, before Tammy Abraham scored his penalty kick which meant Aston Villa would be heading to Wembley for the play-off final for the second successive season.
In the other semi-final 2nd leg, Leeds United's Stuart Dallas gave the hosts the lead on the night after Derby County failed to deal with a free kick, which meant Leeds were 2-0 up on aggregate. Derby manager Frank Lampard was forced to make a substitution just before half-time, replacing Duane Holmes with Jack Marriott, and this had the desired effect, as Marriott levelled for Derby on the night right on the stroke of half-time (making it 2-1 on aggregate). As soon as the second half began, Mason Mount gave Derby County the lead on the night and levelled the tie on aggregate, and just over 10 minutes later Derby County were awarded a penalty after Liam Cooper brought down Maosn Bennett in the box, and Harry Wilson duly dispatched the penalty which gave them the lead on aggregate. Their lead on aggregate only lasted less than 5 minutes, however, as Stuart Dallas got his second goal of the night for Leeds United to level the tie up on aggregate once again. Leeds United's Geatano Berardi was shown a second yellow card for a reckless foul on Bradley Johnson in the 78th minute, and in the 85th minute scored his second goal of the night which sent Derby County to Wembley, despite Scott Malone also receiving a second yellow card which meant both teams finished the night with 10 men.
Play-off final
Monday 27th May
Aston Villa v Derby County - KO 16:00 CEST (Wembley Stadium)