Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph scored as Aston Villa came from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 on Sunday and book their place in the FA Cup final.
Philippe Coutinho opened the scoring in the semi-final clash, but the Belgian striker hit back just six minutes later, before Delph completed the turnaround in the second-half.
Tim Sherwood has masterminded a superb FA Cup shock to send Aston Villa into the final in a months’ time.
The underdogs stunned Liverpool with a confident, assured performance defined by defensive solidity and real gusto in attack.
Fabian Delph was superb in midfield, Christian Benteke excellent up top, bringing all the power that Liverpool lacked, and questions must be asked of Brendan Rodgers and a side who will end the season without silverware – and likely without even a place in the Champions League either.
Villa will now face Arsenal in the showpiece on May 30, with Steven Gerrard’s hopes of a fairytale end to his Liverpool career left in tatters.
All the talk had been of whether Gerrard could finish his Liverpool career by lifting the FA Cup next month on his birthday in his final game before joining LA Galaxy, but there will no fairytale end for the long-serving captain, with Villa instead reaching their first FA Cup final for 15 years.
There was further frustration for Liverpool as Balotelli incorrectly had an 88th-minute strike disallowed for offside and that proved to be a costly decision, as Villa held on to book another trip to Wembley.
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