Guzan Headed to Wembley

For the second time in 9 months, an American goalkeeper will be starting at Wembley, as Brad Guzan and Aston Villa are through to the Carling Cup final thanks to a victory in the second leg of their semifinal tie with Blackburn. It wasn't Guzan's best game, but it puts him on the brink of glory nonetheless, as he and his teammates await the winner of the Manchester City-Manchester United tie.

To this point, Guzan has been a key figure in Villa's Carling Cup success, with 3 clean sheets in 4 matches. Today's match was a different story, however, as Guzan conceded more goals than he had in the aforementioned cup matches combined. He looked tentative at times and made a meal out of several balls into the box, turning in his worst performance of the season thus far. Fortunately for him, he picked a great day to do it, as the Villa attack exploded for 6 goals for an aggregate victory of 7-4.

There were some nervous moments for Guzan early in the match, as he had to fight through a crowded six yard box to get just enough of a 6th minute corner kick to clear it out of danger. Unfortunately for Guzan and Villa fans, this was just a precursor to an even shakier effort a few minutes later. A David Dunne corner kick in the 10th minute flew into a crowded 18, with Guzan again having a difficult time asserting himself in the crowded box and sizing up the long ball. This time, however, he was unable to even get a hand on the cross, finding himself in no man's land and watching Nikola Kalinic nod the ball into the back of the net. The 10th minute goal leveled the aggregate and silenced the home crowd, with Blackburn taking all the momentum.

It would go from bad to worse for Villa, as Blackburn continued to control the match and get into dangerous attacking positions. Brad Guzan made a valiant effort to redeem himself for his previous miscue, with a fantastic save in the 26th minute off of the head of Martin Olsson. A cross from the wing found Olsson just 10 yards from goal, and he headed back across Guzan, who made a quick reaction and reached back to get a hand on the strong header. It might have been more of a highlight in the half if not for what transpired directly after, as the rebound was tapped in by Kalinic to double the Blackburn lead and take command of the aggregate score with another away goal. On the replay, it's evident that Guzan's defenders didn't do him a lot of favors in this sequence, as both got beat to the ball by their respective men on the initial shot and the follow up.

The save was Guzan's only one of the first half, as the Villa defense tightened things up after that point, not allowing another Blackburn shot for the rest of the half. Martin O'Neill's men were also so busy in the attack, that Blackburn were constantly on their heels for the final 15 minutes or so, as momentum shifted back to the home side. A 30th minute cross from Ashley Young was met at the back post by Stephen Warnock, who smashed it into the roof of the net to breathe life back into Villa Park. 10 minutes later, the match got turned on its head, as Blackburn's Christopher Samba was sent off for hauling down Gabriel Agbonlahor from behind inside the 18. James Milner made no mistake with the ensuing penalty, putting it into the side netting to level the score and give Villa the aggregate edge once more.

With a man advantage, Villa continued to dominate possession in the second half. It wasn't long until they added another to their lead, as a loose ball off a corner was muscled across the line to give Guzan and company a commanding 4-2 lead in the two-legged tie. As if that wasn't crushing enough for a Blackburn side that showed a lot of spunk and energy earlier in the match, it wasn't over yet, as a James Milner blast from distance glanced off Agbonlahor and into the corner of the net, giving Villa a 5-2 aggregate lead and essentially sealing a date at Wembley.

Another goal from Emile Heskey added to the lead, but Brad Guzan would see his stat line take some more hits, as Martin Olsson provided a quick, spectacular answer to the Heskey goal with an overhead kick from 12 yards out that found the far corner. Guzan really couldn't do much on the shot, which was an audacious effort to say the least, and his defense may have been guilty of falling into a post-goal lull.

After some issues with air balls earlier in the match, Guzan came out very strong for a free kick in the 74th mintue. He grabbed a long ball from Paul Robinson and did very well to keep hold of the ball despite the fact that MLS alumnus Ryan Nelsen ran straight into him. This was the lone highlight of the second half for Guzan, who would concede one more goal in the 84th minute, as a looping effort from Brett Emerton took a slight deflection and trickled through his legs. A couple minutes later, Guzan had some more difficulties with a ball up in the air, as he struggled to out-leap and out-position Ryan Nelsen for a high floater in the area. A foul was called on Nelsen, but there didn't appear to be much there, instead looking like the ref bailed out the former Chivas USA keeper.

The match would finish 6-4 in favor of Aston Villa, with Guzan taking home an unimpressive stat line of 3 saves and 4 goals conceded. Though he will shoulder some of the blame for the goals, there wasn't exactly a lot of spectacular defending in the match (look no further than the score line for evidence of that). Overall, it was a match that Guzan will want to soon forget. USMNT fans shouldn't be too worried about it, though, as it's really Guzan's first poor performance in months. At some point, the guy was due for a bad outing, and it's kind of remarkable that he has been able to play so well to this point despite long spells between appearances. There shouldn't be any worries about him losing the starting gig in the final either, as Martin O'Neill has assured the US #2 that he will continue to get the nod over Brad Friedel throughout the competition.

Guzan will likely put this behind him very quickly, as he is probably already instead looking ahead to what will surely be an incredible experience at the 2010 Carling Cup final on February 28th.