Aston Villa booked their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 win against Championship side Cardiff City, thanks to Marco Asensio’s double in the second half.
Cardiff frustrated Villa throughout the first hour of the game, with goalkeeper Ethan Horvath making seven saves before Marcus Rashford and Asensio linked up for a third time since both arriving in January to break the deadlock.
Asensio swept home Rashford’s cut-back in the 68th minute to open the scoring and netted his second of the night 12 minutes later (80) to ensure Unai Emery’s men progressed into the next round.
Villa will now eagerly await Sunday evening’s draw, which is scheduled to take place after Manchester United host Fulham at Old Trafford, to discover who they will meet in the last eight.
Cardiff, 19th in the Championship, gave a strong account of themselves on the road and might feel unlucky to have not been awarded a penalty just before the break when Perry Ng went down inside the area after feeling contact on his feet from Lamare Bogarde.
“I think it was a penalty,” said Sky Sports’ Roy Keane on ITV. “He caught him and has gone down.”
However, Villa did dominate the fixture and likely should have been leading long before their opener, with Ollie Watkins and Rashford, who is yet to score in claret and blue, squandering chances from point-blank range before the break.
Marcus Rashford reacts after missing a first-half chance for Villa
It was far from a perfect performance in the final third from Villa but, after Tuesday’s 4-1 drubbing at Crystal Palace, emerging with victory was the priority. As for Cardiff, full attention will now shift to extending their six-point gap on the bottom three in the Championship to ensure their survival.
Who could Villa face?
Remaining FA Cup fixtures:
- Bournemouth vs Wolves
- Crystal Palace vs Millwall
- Man City vs Plymouth
- Man Utd vs Fulham
- Newcastle vs Brighton
- Nottingham Forest vs Ipswich
- Preston vs Burnley
