Late goal secures win over Middlesbrough to book Villa into the FA Cup Round 4

A late goal from Aston Villa was enough to see off Championship side Middlesbrough at the Riverside as they booked themselves into the FA Cup Fourth Road for the first time since 2016.

There has been a lot of talk on the Aston Villa social channels about whether Villa fans would prefer to qualify for the Champions League or win a trophy. Although I would prefer both, winning a trophy is never forgotten and I would love to see Villa lift the FA Cup one day.

Report: Middlesborough 0-1 Aston Villa

Despite reports that Jhon Durán wants to leave Aston Villa with AC Milan sniffing around, Unai Emery opted to rest Ollie Watkins and hand the Columbian a start.

Matty Cash, Leander Dendoncker and Boubacar Kamara were also handed starts as Moussa Diaby, Douglas Luiz and Diego Carlos dropped to the bench.

The first real chance came for Aston Villa through Durán but his lower powerful effort was turned around the post by Boro keeper Tom Glover.

The Columbian had another chance just after the half-hour mark but once again Glover was equal to his effort.

The home side then had a chance, which proved to be their only shot on target through the entire match. Daniel Barlaser played through Morgan Rodgers but he could only watch on as Emi Martínez saved with ease.

Glover, who went on to become man of the match, was once again to the rescue of Boro early in the second half when Villa captain John McGinn forced the keeper to tip the ball over the bar with a first-time curled effort.

The woodwork came to Michael Carrick’s side’s rescue when Ezri Konsa climbed the highest to head towards the goal.

The visitors were getting frustrated as they once again struggled to break down a side who played in a low block and their frustrations grew when Àlex Moreno was caught in the box and the referee said no to a penalty. Would VAR have overturned it? Who knows. It was soft in my view but we see them given.

Villa’s domination paid off with three minutes left on the clock. Cash picked the ball up from distance and his effort deflected off Emmanuel Latte Lath and past Glover to put Villa’s name into the hat for the next round.

What the managers said

Emery: “At the beginning we were favourite to win, but difficult to face each match. They prepared and tactically they played a very good match and even when they were keeping more possession on the transition they threatened us.

“We were always in control of the game and even the 15 minute, 20 minutes in the second half they were in that moment in control of the game better than us, after we had the three chances in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

“We were being passionate and trying to keep in our mind our gameplan and after that moment we reacted again, we pushed in the last minute because we took two or three chances and we scored one of them.”

Carrick: “I thought the whole game, to be honest, was good. Really happy with them at half-time. They had a little bit more of the game in some ways second half, but I thought in general in the circumstances against the team we were playing against, I thought they were fantastic, the lads, I’m so proud of them.

“Tactically they were spot on in terms of their discipline, concentration, we played some good football at times to play that pressure and we probably had more opportunities to create chances than actually the chances themselves but we definitely looked dangerous enough in the game.

“Disappointed not to get anything from it really.”

Up Next

Aston Villa return to Premier League action when they travel to Liverpool to take on Everton next Sunday at 2 pm.

Middlesbrough can look forward to their League Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday when they host Chelsea at the Riverside Stadium.