Aston Villa secured a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a win over Cardiff City on Friday night, in a crucial boost for the team after a difficult start to the week.
It began with a bitterly disappointing defeat at Crystal Palace in the Premier League, and so a reaction and win were much-needed on Friday night at Villa Park to put that behind us.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Cardiff: Classy Asensio, key quartet shine in win
Having dominated and controlled most of the game, it was a positive display that ended in an important win, which subsequently also keeps our hopes of winning silverware this season alive.
In turn, all concerned will be delighted with the result, and hopefully we can build on this, starting at Club Brugge in the Champions League next week.
Important lift to advance in Cup
While Emery will no doubt continue to manage expectations and not get too high or low, there is no real way of downplaying the expectation and hope amongst Villa fans this year in the FA Cup.
We’ve now booked our place in the quarter-finals and given ourselves a real shot at challenging for a trophy, and so this was an important boost as we struggle for consistency in the league.
Naturally, given it’s the business-end of the competition, we’ll face difficult challenges ahead if we want to go all the way, but ending our long wait for silverware has to be a priority after the brilliant progress we’ve seen over the past two years.
Much-needed clean sheet to build on
While Emi Martinez jokingly made light of it on social media after the game, this clean sheet is hopefully a significant catalyst when it comes to the defensive side of our game.
All season long we’ve been porous at the back and leaking soft, avoidable goals that have cost us. It’s held us back and made our job more difficult, and a fix was desperately needed.
With all due respect to Cardiff, we’ll face tougher attacking units between now and the end of the season, but it’s hopefully a starting point to start shoring things up more consistently.
Garcia continues to impress
There were several impressive performances across the pitch, but Andres Garcia continues to make a really positive impact at right-back in both phases.
Defensively, he is diligent carrying out his duties and his recovery pace is proving crucial at times, particularly when we face a threat on the counter attack.
Further, his ability to play out from the back more effectively is key to giving us another route to advance up the pitch, while he plays with positive intent and is looking increasingly assured in possession. There’s a long way to go, but it looks to be another excellent signing from the club.
Critical injury boosts for Emery
After the scare earlier this week as he was replaced at half-time at Selhurst Park, it was a real relief to see Martinez start this game and allay those injury concerns.
Given we’re already without a number of key individuals, we can’t afford to lose more, and so it was reassuring to have the Argentine shot-stopper in the side and having a positive influence on the outcome of the game.
Further, Boubacar Kamara was named on the bench in what could prove to be a huge moment for the rest of the season as we’ve missed his presence in the side, despite both Youri Tielemans and John McGinn impressing in the deeper pivot, as the Frenchman is one of, if not the most, influential players in the squad.
Asensio, Rashford continue to make the difference
That’s now three assists in six games for Marcus Rashford, while Marco Asensio has bagged four goals in the same number of outings since they both arrived in the January transfer window.
With their big wages and reputations, a lot was expected, and needed, from them immediately given we invested heavily on them making the difference for us between now and May, and they’re not letting us down thus far.
Both add a crucial and fresh dynamic to our attacking play, whether it’s Rashford’s ability to stretch defences with his threatening play down the left flank or Asensio’s positioning, class and flair in central areas to be decisive.
Their impact has been pivotal to this point, and it’s hoped that they can continue to not only maintain this level of form, but continue to improve as they adapt and settle in the side further.
