Aston Villa bowed out of the Carabao Cup with a defeat to Stoke City at Villa Park on Thursday night.
The only goal of the game arrived after 25 minutes when Sam Vokes glanced a header past Jed Steer.
Keinan Davis, Anwar El Ghazi and Henri Lansbury all had great chances to equalise, but it was The Potters who progressed into the Quarter Finals.
Fresh from making his Premier League debut on Monday night, Jacob Ramsey threatened the visitors’ goal early-on, glancing a header on target before seeing a shot blocked.
Clear-cut chances were at a premium until the 24th minute when Steer produced a stunning one-handed stop to tip Nick Powell’s drive over the crossbar.
From the resulting corner, the Villa ‘keeper could only watch as Vokes flashed a header past him to hand Stoke the lead.
The home side should have levelled minutes later when Lansbury started an attacking move and followed his run into the box, but the midfielder misjudged a free header from Fred Guilbert’s cross when well placed in front of goal.
The pace of Bertrand Traore and El Ghazi was causing Stoke problems on the counter-attack, and when the two combined after 41 minutes it resulted in a glorious chance for Davis.
The striker arrived at the back post to meet El Ghazi’s low cross, but he could only poke it wide as he came sliding in at full stretch to make contact with the ball.
A matter of seconds after half-time, Traore prodded a tame effort at Adam Davies after Marvelous Nakamba picked him out at the back post.
At the other end, the hosts were handed a major reprieve when Vokes headed wide from point-blank range.
Villa were monopolising possession but they needed a spark, and El Ghazi was the man who nearly provided it.
Picking the ball up on the touchline, he dribbled inside and saw off the attentions of three Stoke players before his low drive forced Davies into a smart save.
Dean Smith called upon Ollie Watkins after 71 minutes, and the striker almost made an immediate impact, curling an effort toward the top corner before Davies tipped it over the bar.
Stoke were almost exclusively penned into their own half during the final 15 minutes, but Villa couldn’t find a way through as the visitors progressed to the last eight.
Aston Villa: Steer, Taylor, Hause (Konsa 58), Guilbert, Elmohamady, Nakamba, Lansbury, Ramsey (Watkins 71), El Ghazi, Traore (Jota 77), Davis.
Subs: Kalinic, Cash, Luiz, Hourihane.
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