THE long corridor to Wembley has suddenly become dark and narrow, just when Villa thought they were in sight of the twin towers.

Ron Atkinson's men endured a Nightmare on Merseyside last night to leave themselves a daunting uphill battle when Tranmere come to Villa Park for the second leg a week on Sunday.

No doubt Big Ron will stress frequently between now and then just how difficult the task is going to be, and he will be absolutely right.

It would, in fact, have been Mission Impossible but for a last-gasp Dalian Atkinson goal which was as unlikely at the time as this result had seemed before kick-off.

When skipper Kevin Richardson lofted his injury-time free-kick into Tranmere's penalty area, most of Villa's players were looking for a hole to climb into to escape their humiliation.

But Tony Daley headed the ball back into Dalian Atkinson's path, and the enigmatic striker volleyed in his 13th goal of the season from 12 yards.

It most certainly wasn't his luckiest, but with away goals counting double if the tie finishes all square over two legs, it might yet prove to be his most important.

If Atkinson's quality strike threw Villa a lifeline, though, let's not kid ourselves it was one they deserved.

As manager Ron Atkinson pointed out, only a few seconds earlier his team had looked dead and buried, apparently needing a four-goal second leg margin to reach the final.

Half that amount will now be enough if Tranmere fail to reply at Villa Park, but don't bank on John King's men surrendering.

Tranmere, who currently overshadow their more illustrious neighbours Liverpool and Everton, are an accomplished side.

While Villa enjoyed greater territorial superiority, the home side made much better use of their share of the action, delighting a capacity crowd with their sharp, slick passing and superb movement off the ball.

Those qualities left Atkinson's men baffled, bemused and, sadly, completely bereft of ideas on how to carve out counter attacks.

Even during their long periods of second half possession, they were little more than predictable plodders, accurate enough moving sideways but badly lacking imagination when an incisive forward pass was required.

Perhaps it might have been a different story had Ray Houghton's fourth minute snap shot from Tony Daley's low cross hit the target instead of creeping agonisingly past the far post.

Two minutes later, however, Villa were on the slippery slope to only their third away defeat of the season as they fell behind to a superbly engineered goal.

Liam O'Brien, Chris Malkin and the eel-like Pat Nevin linked sweetly down the right, with Nevin's reverse pass deflected by Steve Staunton into the path of lan Nolan.

The full-back smashed an angled drive past Mark Bosnich and in off the underside of the bar, and Villa found themselves trailing for the first time in eight domestic cup-ties this season.

Staunton's 35-yard free-kick and subsequent inswinging corner created problems for home goalkeeper Eric Nixon, but it was no real surprise when Tranmere increased their lead on 25 minutes.

Pat Nevin, revelling in the chance to mix it with top flight opposition again, drilled in a corner which Richardson only partially cleared, and central defender Mark Hughes stuck out a foot to direct the ball into the top corner.

Villa didn't create another opening before half-time, but at least they forced the pace in the second half, with the lively Tony Daley and Dean Saunders both close to scoring before Tranmere broke away to score again.

The arguments will continue for some time about whether John Aldridge was offside when he ran on to Kenny Irons' 78th minute through ball, but there was no question about the of the striker's finish.

His first shot smacked against the advancing Bosnich's left-hand post, and before Villa defenders could recover, the rebound had been despatched into the net.

Villa were down, and almost out but Deadly Dalian's late consolation effort gave the semifinal a whole new complexion. The second leg will be tough, but Wembley is not yet beyond reach.