Aston Villa managed to beat Reading today at the Majedski Stadium to ensure there name was in the hat for the FA Cup Semi Final draw.
Villa joined Portsmouth and Chelsea in the hat and one of Tottenham or Fulham, depending on who wins in the replay at White Hart Lane.
The FA Cup Semi Final Draw:
ASTON VILLA vs Chelsea
Portsmouth v Tottenham/Fulham
Boring boring Villa? I like to think we entertain the watching fans and we didn’t disappoint this afternoon when we took on Reading in the quarter final of the FA Cup.
An upset looked like it was on the cards when Reading went two-up just before half time.
Reading took the lead on 27 minutes when a corner from Howard was headed on by Mills and Long was free at the back post to head past Friedel.
The home side soon doubled their lead when Sigurdsson found Kebe who outpaced Warnock and he cut the ball back across goal for Long to make it 2-0.
I will admit that I gave up hope of any comeback. We looked down, and out after last week’s defeat at Wembley but how wrong could I have been. Martin O’Neill deserves credit for whatever he said in the dressing room because Villa comes out in the second half on a mission.
In a thrilling first ten minutes in the second half Villa completed turned this tie on its head.
On the 47th minute Downing passed to Carew who was in the box, he then chipped a little ball across goal only for Cuellar to mis-kick the ball. But coming in at the back post was Ashley Young and he fired the ball into the back of the net.
Villa was back to their normal selves. Milner found Downing in aches of space on the wing, who then swung in a beautiful cross to reach John Carews head, and Villa are back on level terms.
And then to complete the turnaround of the tie Warnock over lapped Young on the wing and then cantered the ball for John Carew to make it 3-2.
The days’ scoring was complete when John Carew was brought down in the area in the last minute of the game. The big Norwegian stepped up and booked Villas place in the Semi Final.
I know it seems so far away after last week’s result, but guess what lads.. WE ARE GOING TO WEMBLEY AGAIN!!
Forget about what happened in the past, and let’s look forward to now. Villa head down to Reading tomorrow in the Quarter finals of the FA Cup and we want to go back to Wembley.
A lot is being made of this theory that Villa haven’t won in March under Martin O’Neill but I fully expect this voodoo, or whatever you want to call it to be broken, and broken in style as Reading face the backlash of last week’s result.
Villa will be backed by a strong 4,000 travelling fans as Villa sold their whole capacity for the game earlier on in the week.
The FA Cup is known to be the romantic cup, they cup that allows the giant killings and Reading is proof of this. With a massive victory over Liverpool under their belts they are going to want to repeat that result against Villa.
Reading will be without on-loan Blackburn defender Zurab Khizanishvili (Cup Tied), Jobi McAnuff (Suspended), Jem Karacan (Hand Injury), and Kalifa Cisse (dead leg). However, the good news for the Royals is Shane Long should return to the bench.
Villa should have a full side to pick from as long as non on the International stars have returned with injuries.
Reading won’t just roll over and die in this game and they will put on a battle, but I fully expect Villa to win here simply because we are the better side.
Avillafan.com Prediction: Away Win.
This is the game we all didn’t want and it won’t be the most entertaining of football games but never the less the games on and if the game at Selhurst Park is anything to go by, we are in for quite a game.
On paper you would think this should be a comfortable victory for O’Neill and the boys, but I’m sure Neil Warnock will have different ideas.
With Villa on a high following last weekend’s victory over Burnley and with one eye on the Cup Final I can only see a win for the home side in this game and I would imagine they will go out all guns blazing from the off just to get things done and dusted as soon as.
I expect Villa to get a few goals to, Palace had their chance of a giant killing in the first game and teams don’t usually get a second look in when it comes to Premiership teams.
Palace have sold just over 3,000 so far and some will be able to buy tickets on the night, so there should be a crowd size of around 30,000.
Stiliyan Petrov is almost certainly out of the game while Gabriel Agbonlahor is also a doubt.
AVILLAFAN.COM Prediction: Home win.
Villa and Crystal Palace might have to replay again at Villa Park, but the draw for the FA Cup Sixth Round must still go ahead.
The draw took place at Wembley as always, hosted by Jim Rosenthal. Luther Blissett and Tim Lovejoy made the draw.
The draw in full is:
Chelsea v Manchester City/Stoke City
Fulham v Bolton/Tottenham
Reading/WBA v Crystal Palace/Aston Villa
Portsmouth v Birmingham City
