Analysis: West Brom face uphill task after 15 minutes of chaos, but this tie is far from over

They had gone into the Lion’s Den and muzzled the lions. Jack Grealish, John McGinn, Tammy Abraham, all had struggled to break down the Baggies’ resolute defence.

This team that had been so suspect at the back all season had suddenly remembered how to defend, suddenly remembered those drills under Tony Pulis.

Jimmy Shan’s decision to play a back five, often bolstered by four midfielders just yards in front of them was frustrating their hosts.

Thanks to Dwight Gayle’s clinical finish in the 16th minute, Albion were 15 minutes away from taking a lead back to The Hawthorns.

But then Conor Hourihane unleashed a shot, Sam Johnstone was left rooted, and the sky fell in.

All of a sudden Villa Park’s very foundations were vibrating. Chaos ensued.

The flamethrowers hadn’t returned but the heat had. And it sparked 15 minutes of carnage. Four minutes later Villa scored again thanks to a penalty won by Grealish.

Not long after, Albion had their own strong penalty appeal turned down when Tammy Abraham bundled into Mason Holgate.

But if the 2,000 travelling contingent thought things couldn’t get any worse after that, they were wrong.

Two minutes from the end the unthinkable happened, they lost their talisman, their beacon of hope, their force of nature. They lost Gayle.

At the same time the striker was both the man of the match and the villain of the piece. Both bookings were harsh, but both were avoidable.

Once again he tried to bend the rules too much, taking his time on a throw-in after being warned, although he was obviously shattered from being the lone man up top all game.

Once again his undying will to win took over, stretching out for a 50/50 with Jed Steer on a yellow card when there is still half of this tie to play.

Jimmy Shan dismissed the notion he should have taken Gayle off after a foul on Grealish left him walking a tightrope, but had he had Hal Robson-Kanu on the bench, you wonder if he would have.

How costly these two red cards could be.

Before that sickening moment, Gayle had been everywhere, relentlessly chasing down lost causes to give the 10 men behind him breathers, outjumping Tyrone Mings despite being five inches shorter, sprinting despite nursing an injury.

If the last thing Albion fans see Gayle do in a blue and white shirt is trudge down the tunnel, it will be no fitting end.

Shan’s approach may have been unadventurous, but when faced with a team riding so high on confidence and an atmosphere so febrile, it was the perfect way to suck the life out of the event.

And when you have Gayle and Jay Rodriguez in your team, you will always pose a threat.

Moments before the former scored, his strike partner nearly did, and it was only thanks to a superb save from Steer that his effort clattered the bar rather than the back of the net.

There were chances on the counter too. Gayle underhit a pass to an open Jacob Murphy, Matt Phillips couldn’t rediscover his pace to catch up to Stefan Johansen’s through ball.

The tone looked to be set one minute in, when Johansen fouled Grealish. But instead of kicking Villa’s creator-in-chief, Albion simply marshalled him away from danger.

There was a certain irony in Gayle’s goal, because it’s the sort of goal the Baggies have given away time and time again this season.

The problem with this approach, and the problem with relying on the counter-attack, is the longer the game goes on, the harder the recovery runs become.

As the mind tires, it is drawn to the ball, and 75 minutes in, too many eyes were drawn to Grealish, leaving Hourihane unmarked.

The ball had been magnetically attracted to Ahmed Hegazi all day, but even the big Egyptian couldn’t get in the way of Hourihane’s strike. Dean Smith’s substitute had paid off.

But despite Villa’s dominance in possession, there is a feeling of injustice after this game, and perhaps one that can spur this Albion team to victory in front of their own fans on Tuesday.

Not only should they have had a penalty when Holgate was clattered, not only were there question marks over Gayle’s red card, but Hourihane may not have been available had the FA acted after his alleged punch on Mateusz Klich.

More importantly though, the fear factor has gone. The Baggies know they can beat this Villa side, club-record winning streak or not, because they were 15 minutes away from doing it in their backyard.

Strangely enough, there is more belief now then there was before this game, even though it’s advantage to the team from Aston.

Fuelled by fury, The Hawthorns will be determined to even the odds on Tuesday.

The concern is that Albion will have to play a different way to this, something both Dean Smith and Jimmy Shan acknowledged after the game.

The Baggies need to win, but a more open and expansive game may leave them vulnerable.

With five defenders rather than nine to contend with, Grealish and McGinn could have more joy.

With more blue and white shirts committed forward, Villa could pick Albion off.

Perhaps those refereeing decisions were always destined to come Albion’s way after the ‘Hand of Rod’ in December. But they don’t make them any more galling.

The Baggies were 15 minutes away from the consummate away performance. Now they’ve got an uphill task ahead of them.

History, both recent and otherwise, suggests it can be done.

Five home wins on the bounce under Shan has made their ground a fortress. Albion beat Villa without Gayle in February.

They also came from 2-1 behind to beat Swansea City in the play-offs in 1993 on a memorable night at The Hawthorns.

This tie may have swung in Villa’s favour, but it is far from over.