Aston Villa 2 Bolton 0 (Bolton win 5-4 on aggregte)
Bolton will meet either Middlesbrough or Arsenal in the League Cup final next month after beating Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate despite losing tonight's semi-final second leg 2-0 at Villa Park
Bolton, who crushed Villa 5-2 in the first leg last Wednesday, were rocked after nine minutes when German Under-21 midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger floated a free-kick past Finnish goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen from 25 metres.
Villa had midfielder Gavin McCann sent off after 39 minutes and Bolton seemed to be cruising until Jlloyd Samuel scored from close range in the 88th minute to set up a storming finale - which Bolton survived.
Villa's hopes of turning the tie around probably disappeared when Gavin McCann was given a straight red card for hitting Bolton's Brazilian defender Emerson Thome after a flare-up following McCann's late challenge on Jaaskelainen.
Hard-working Villa had more of the ball and created several scoring chances, but Bolton, with the extra man for 50 minutes, were more than content to soak up the pressure while creating little of their own up front.
Bolton will know their final opponents tomorrow night after Middlesbrough meet Arsenal in the second leg of their semi-final at the Riverside Stadium.
Middlesbrough lead the tie 1-0, but Arsenal remain favourites to reach the final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on February 29th.