Trezeguet grabbed Villa's stoppage-time winner to send the five-time victors to Wembley after Kelechi Iheanacho's second-half strike had cancelled out Matt Targett's 12th-minute opener to give Villa a 3-2 triumph on aggregate.

Leicester will count themselves unlucky, with Villa having had four shots on target across the two legs and scoring three times.

Egypt midfielder Trezeguet was embraced by scores of delirious fans as they flooded on to the pitch at the end of the game.

"We fought to the end, we worked very hard, I'm so happy."

Villa skipper Jack Grealish hailed his team's never-say-die attitude.

"I just think it shows what character we've got in the team," he said on Sky Sports. "Last month we were in a sticky patch, couldn't stick four passes together. But we are on fire at the moment.

"I thought we were brilliant today, I'm over the moon."

Villa, though, owe a huge debt of gratitude to goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, who produced three outstanding first-half saves, with boss Dean Smith opting to keep faith with the Norwegian who had served him well in the first leg at the King Power Stadium, at the expense of recent signing Pepe Reina.

Nyland celebrated wildly with the fans and hailed his performance as his best in a Villa shirt.

"Yeah, definitely," he said on Sky Sports. "It was my best one the last time I played against Leicester in the first leg, but to come out and do it again was amazing."

Asked if he now expected to play in the final, he added: "I hope so."

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers felt it was Nyland's performance which denied his side a final place.

"I thought that we were excellent in the game," he said. "Their goalkeeper's made some outstanding saves, we played with a nice control, nice composure.

"I'm just absolutely gutted for my players, they put so much into the game.

"(It's a) tough one to take as I thought - over the two games - we were the better side."

Villa, five-times winners are back in the final for the first time since 2010, will face either Manchester City or Manchester United, who meet in their second-leg clash on Wednesday, with City leading 3-1 on aggregate.

The final will be played at Wembley Stadium on March 1.

Australian Associated Press