Aston Villa struck twice inside three second-half minutes to take control of their Championship play-off semi-final with West Bromwich Albion.
Substitute Conor Hourihane's brilliant 25-yard shot and then a Tammy Abraham penalty turned the tie on its head following Dwight Gayle's first-half strike.
But the real tipping point of the two-leg contest may have come two minutes from the end of normal time when Baggies striker Gayle was sent off for sliding in late on Villa keeper Jed Steer.
Villa boss Dean Smith said, "I had a massive decision to make in leaving out Conor Hourihane, just as I have had tough decisions to make over the last two or three months.
"I've got four quality international midfield players and only three places - and four into three doesn't go. But Conor answered in the best way possible with a lovely strike.
"Albion came with a game plan to slow the game down and they capitalised on Glenn Whelan's mistake. Their approach might be a bit different on Tuesday night. Their supporters might want them to play a bit differently.
"Although a few of ours won't think they had their best game, we keep on finding ways to win. But I was frustrated that, when they were down to 10 men, we maybe did not have enough opportunities to go on and get another."
West Brom caretaker head coach Jimmy Shan told BBC Sport: "It's very frustrating. Dwight Gayle's a big player for West Brom. He gets booked for allegedly time wasting at a long throw-in. Then, for the second, he's got every right to go in and contest the ball.
"There was no malice whatsoever. He's gone in to make contact, to get on the end of the cross from Jay Rodriguez and make himself a two-goal hero.
"And we should have a penalty ourselves. There was no attempt to win the ball in Abraham's challenge on Holgate. It was a penalty all day long.
"But we've still got 90 minutes ahead of us. The atmosphere will be electric and we've got to be bit more on the front foot and take the game to Aston Villa."