Aston Villa secured a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in our third-round FA Cup tie on Saturday evening, finally ending our barren run in the competition.
Villa left it late to find a breakthrough as Matty Cash’s deflected effort in the 88th minute eventually saw us through, after a game in which we struggled to play at our best and show enough quality.
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Fortunately though, after seven years of exits at this stage of the FA Cup, with Unai Emery even unable to break that curse last year against Stevenage, we can finally look forward to a fourth-round draw having kept our hopes alive.
Although it was far from convincing, it was a positive way to start 2024, and we’ll hopefully be able to continue our good form in the coming weeks as we resume Premier League action.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Middlesbrough:
Emiliano Martinez, 6.5 – Wasn’t particularly busy but did make one important save in the first half, while he was alert to danger and in command of his area to snuff out any threat.
Matty Cash, 8 – Put in a solid defensive performance as the hosts did cause us problems at times, and capped it off with the winning strike. Helped by a big deflection, but the set-piece was well-worked and Cash took a chance with an effort from distance.
Ezri Konsa, 7 – Another strong showing defensively for the most part even though Latte Lath was more of a handful in the second half. Kept things organised and tight at the back.
Clement Lenglet, 6.5 – Did well again as he continues to deputise for Pau Torres. Not quite as effective with his distribution with ‘Boro sitting deep and making it difficult for us, but a decent shift nonetheless as part of a backline that kept an all-important clean sheet.
Alex Moreno, 6.5 – Still not quite at his decisive best with his attacking play as he’s getting into good positions but can’t find that telling pass. However, continues to look sharper and fitter with more playing time.
Leon Bailey, 6 – Limited impact in this one as although he looked dangerous at times with his pace and direct running, couldn’t really make the difference in the final third as we struggled to break the opposition down.
Boubacar Kamara, 8 – His absence emphasised how important he is for us, but it’s glaringly obvious when he’s in the side just how much of a difference he makes. Consistently won duels and imposed himself in midfield to give us control and showed his class throughout, a huge boost to have him back after suspension.
Leander Dendoncker, 6 – Safe and accurate with his passing, but ultimately we needed more from midfield to break Middlesbrough down. He’s a good depth option when needing to rest others or see out a game, but there is a drop off in our midfield work when he’s in the side from an offensive perspective.
Jacob Ramsey, 6 – Similar to Moreno in that it looks as though he’s still searching for peak conditioning and sharpness, as he looked sloppy at times and didn’t make enough movement ahead of his teammate. However, showed glimpses of quality and he’ll no doubt continue to improve.
John McGinn, 6 – Threatened from distance as he looked good in patches in a more advanced role, but his influence was a little more limited in this one as we struggled to get our rhythm and tempo right in our build-up play to create sustained pressure and ultimately chances.
Jhon Duran, 6 – Showed good movement on occasion and had a couple of attempts at goal to show his threat, albeit they were probably a little too hopeful. Didn’t do enough though to show Emery he can trust him in terms of the tactical and more general team play to feature more prominently.
Substitutes:
Douglas Luiz, 6.5 – Helped us settle in the latter stages and gain control again to build up pressure, which ultimately led to our goal.
Ollie Watkins, 6 – Good movement and energy, but didn’t offer much of a threat in the final third after coming on.
Nicolo Zaniolo, 6.5 – Almost scored a superb goal from distance and looked positive with his attempts to find an opening.
Moussa Diaby, 5.5 – Scuffed a good chance and didn’t quite look up to the pace of the game to make a bigger impact.