Matty Cash celebrates Aston Villa's winner Photo: PA/Richard Sellers
If you think about Aston Villa's abysmal recent FA Cup record, their last win in the competition before this match was before the Brexit vote. This was a time when Micah Richards was a player, not a national treasure as a pundit on a TV studio couch. Remy Gard was manager and Wycombe Wanderers were seen off in a replay and the better part of a decade has passed since then.
That winless streak, dating back to 2016, came to an end two minutes from time at the Riverside Stadium when Matty Cash's winner was saved by Emmanuel Latte Lat. There was a wild celebration from Villa at the end as people drove along the M1 celebrating the victory. Many would forget what winning the FA Cup is like.
Unai Emery has worked wonders since arriving at Villa and his latest achievement is getting the team into the hat by the fourth round. He described it as a victory for maturity and progress. Considering he had watched defeat to Stevenage last season, overcoming the first hurdle was a huge step forward. The priority this season was to maintain a high status in the Premier League as well as in Conference Europe. But how Villa fans would love to go to Wembley again after they reached the final just a year before they began their losing streak.
Before his team traveled to the Riverside, Emery held a meeting at the team hotel and made the rounds of his players, asking how they had done in the cup. “Before the match we talked about how successful they were in this competition. A little. Just Amy Martinez and Calum Chambers,” Emery said. Chambers attended Arsenal's open-top bus parade in 2015 but did not take part in the final.
“A long time ago, Aston Villa achieved success with seven titles and we are here to take another step forward as this club tries to compete in different competitions and be contenders. One of them is the FA Cup. We know it is very difficult, but we are also ambitious. We will respect the competition and also respect the opponent.»
Although Villa suffered poor draws during their dismal run — Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham all knocked them out — it is a shame a record for a club with a cup tradition. They did not always have top division status during periods of defeat, but there were always players who won the draw on a given day.
Here they came close to scoring thanks to Ezri Konsa's header hitting the post and Tom Glover making a series of excellent saves. But just as the match was heading toward something no one wanted—a replay—Cash showed up with his latest winner. .jpg» /> Cash's deflected shot played a decisive role in depriving the club of victory in the championship. Photo: Getty Images/George Wood
“The manager made this very clear when we spoke at the hotel,” Cash said. “We were talking about how far we've come,” he asked the players. I haven't made it past the third round since I've been here, so it was nice to finally do it.»
Boro themselves could have been forgiven for hoping for a bigger prize. They host Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday, with Wembley set to take on a side who have at times looked unbeatable at times this season. However, Michael Carrick's team were effective on the counter-attack and could have taken the lead through Morgan Rogers or Isaiah Jones.
“I’m very proud of it,” Carrick said. “The disappointment the boys are feeling shows how well we did in the game. I was delighted for them because it was not easy against such a good team. They placed the calvary at the end of the bench. We played with good connections and were dangerous at times. We stuck to our form and made a few saves, but mostly from set pieces. That gives us confidence for Tuesday.”
Ahead of the Cash replay, the winner came in the 88th minute when Villa fired a short corner into the penalty area. Cash tried his luck with a 25-yard drive and the deflection tripped Glover. It was tough on the goalkeeper after that evening.
“I accept it. That's the goal, so I'm taking it. A goal is a goal, so I’m excited about it,” Cash added. “I've been working on my shots outside the box in training and sometimes they hit the target. We worked on having three balls at the rim to get space and either pass or shoot. I felt an instinctive desire to shoot.”
For Emery, it was reward for his side maintaining control of the match. «We played with passion and maturity,» he said. “We grow up with our mentality in matches like this. At the beginning we wanted to win and tactically they played a good match and were better than us in some transitions and in 90 minutes anything could have happened but we were always in control of the game.
“ In such matches we can improve our mentality , so I'm glad. We go into every competition trying to do something. We have to think that the FA Cup is a very good way to give our fans emotions, it is prestigious and very difficult, in short, than the Premier League. We're going to try.»
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