Aston Villa 2-1 West Brom: Conor Hourihane and Tammy Abraham give Villa the advantage while Dwight Gayle sees red

Dwight Gayle had given the visitors the lead early on in the game as he capitalised on a mistake from Glenn Whelan.

However, a strike from substitute Hourihane, combined with Abraham's goal minutes later, gave Villa the advantage heading into their contest at the Hawthorns on Tuesday.

Not only is the result a concern for James Shan, but he'll be without goalscorer Gayle after he was shown a second yellow card late on for sliding in on goalkeeper Jed Steer.

For Aston Villa, they made a host of changes from the final day defeat against Norwich. Ahmed Elmohamady, Tyrone Mings, John McGinn, Jack Grealish, Anwar El Ghazi and Abraham all returned.

Shan introduced Chris Brunt and Matty Phillips back to the starting XI, mixing up the midfield area with five at the back.

It was the visitors who came the closest to opening the scoring with ten minutes on the clock.

Jay Rodriguez curled a shot from outside the area which looked destined for the top corner, but Villa goalkeeper Jed Steer’s fingertips redirected the ball onto the crossbar and Gayle’s follow-up was adjudged to be offside.

Five minutes later, West Brom had the lead with a huge helping hand from their opponents.

A simple one-two between Grealish and Whelan saw the latter fail to control the ball. That allowed Gayle through and he made no mistake with a fierce shot from the edge of the area which sailed into the bottom corner.

Villa responded well to going behind with the majority of the possession in their favour. Abraham, Grealish and John McGinn all had opportunities, but they failed to challenge Baggies goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.

The half finished with little intensity despite the hosts looking the more likely of the two to score next. Play-off nerves were evident as loose passes and over-hit shots dominated.

West Brom were hit with injury though as Craig Dawson, who struggled towards the end of the first-half, was replaced by Tyrone Mears at the break.

Villa continued to push and found themselves on the front foot. West Brom looked happy to sit back and defend while possessing a threat on the counter attack.

Abraham had a chance to level the score when he connected with El Ghazi's cross. Against the presence of defender Kyle Bartley, he could only flash a header high and wide.

The Baggies were happy with their position, much to the frustration of the home fans, and the referee punished Gayle for what he viewed as time wasting with just an hour on the clock.

The game then had the real 'derby' feel about it as challenges started to fly in. Abraham and Stefan Johansen clashed on halfway after the Villa forward was brought down, while Dean Smith was furious with Gayle for a tackle on Grealish, although there appeared to be little in it.

Hourihane and Andre Green were introduced for the hosts as they looked to find an equaliser. It didn't take long for Hourihane to make an impact, as the midfielder struck with 15 minutes of time remaining.

Grealish gave a simple lay-off and the substitute's left-footed effort from the edge of the box found the bottom corner past a helpless Johnstone.

Minutes later, Abraham gave Villa the lead from the spot. Grealish was brought down by Kieran Gibbs and the striker sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to completely turn the game around.

At the other end, West Brom had a very strong appeal for a penalty turned down shortly after. With the ball in the air, Abraham looked to have taken Mason Holgate down in attempting to win a header. Referee Graham Scott waved it away, although Villa should probably consider themselves lucky that nothing was given.

Things then went from bad to worse as Gayle picked up his second yellow after sliding in late on Steer. He was looking to connect with a cross, although was a second too late and Scott opted to send the forward off.

The Baggies now have it all to do in the second leg, while Villa find themselves in a great position to reach the final for a second consecutive season.

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