Aston Villa 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Aston Villa advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in 10 years on Sunday evening, with a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Villa Park. 

A strong performance from Unai Emery's side got underway less than a minute into the encounter, when Jacob Ramsey fired home to hand the hosts the lead.

Morgan Rogers' close-range finish gave the Villans breathing space just after the hour mark, before Mathys Tel's stoppage-time strike halved the deficit, making for a nervy ending. 

But defensive grit and organisation in the closing stages ensure Villa would compete in the fifth round for the first time since the 2014/15 season, when they went on to reach the final. 

It was the perfect start for Emery’s men in B6, as they hit the front inside the opening minute. Rogers did well to find Ramsey in space on the left, and he cut inside and fired through the grasp of Antonín Kinsky to put the hosts ahead with just 58 seconds on the clock.

Villa were dominant in the opening stages, and kept their foot on the gas in search of a second. Andrés García, impressive on his home debut, cut the ball out and fed Donyell Malen, who fired over on his first start for the club.

Moments later, Leon Bailey cut inside and forced a strong stop from Kinsky, before an enterprising surge forward from Youri Tielemans bought him space on the edge of the area for a shot, but he dragged his effort wide. A similar fate would greet Ramsey after another two minutes had elapsed.

But the Villans had to be alert. Midway through the opening period, Spurs broke and Mikey Moore picked out the run of Son Heung-min perfectly in the centre, but Emi Martínez rushed off his line to brilliantly thwart the South Korean, before García denied Mathys Tel on the follow up.

Despite having Ezri Konsa forced off through injury, Emery’s men quickly regained their rhythm in an entertaining opening period. Shortly before the half hour, Bailey drove into the area and forced another decent stop from Kinsky, with Ramsey’s rebound from a tight angle only to be denied by the foot of the post. Rogers’ long-range effort was beaten away by Spurs’ Czech stopper shortly after.

As the fourth official's board went up to signal two minutes of added time, Villa were in the hunt again. Bailey pounced on a loose ball out from the back and picked out Malen in behind, but he could only hammer into the side netting, as the hosts went in at the break a goal to the good. 

Spurs began the second half on the front foot, immediately looking for an equalising goal. Within five minutes of the restart, Son had found himself in space in behind, but Lamare Bogarde recovered well to deny the Spurs skipper and divert his shot behind. Five minutes later, Dejan Kulusevski cut inside and looked for the far corner, but Martínez comfortably held.

The game opened up into an end-to-end affair, with Spurs pressing the Villans high up the field, but the hosts frequently proving able to break their visitors’ advances and mount attacks of their own. Superb work in the centre of the park from John McGinn opened up space for him to drive into and feed Ramsey, but Kinsky was equal to his effort.

The imminent introductions of Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio from the bench buoyed The Holte End, but before the pair of new signings could even step foot on the pitch for their debuts, the Villa faithful had even more to cheer, as their side found the crucial second goal.

Malen played a one-two with Bailey before seeing his deflected cross hacked off the line by Pedro Porro, but only as far as Rogers who poked high into the roof of the net from close range to give the hosts breathing space. The two architects, Malen and Bailey, would be replaced by Rashford and Asensio soon after.

Villa were enjoying themselves, and with fresh legs on the field, wanted more. They streamed forward, with Asensio and Rogers exchanging neat passes around visiting defenders, before the latter lashed high half-volley a few feet wide, brushing the side netting.

Fourteen minutes remained when the hosts’ next opportunity arrived. More impressive football out from the back eventually saw Rogers feed Ramsey with a defence-splitting ball, but Kinsky again stood firm to keep Villa’s advantage to two goals. At the other end, Spurs’ January recruit Kevin Danso could only turn the ball wide of the goal after Pedro Porro’s cross had reached him at the far post.

Another superb diving stop from Martínez would stop Pedro Porro’s poked effort just inside the area four minutes from time, but The World’s Number One could do nothing to prevent Spurs from getting themselves on the scoresheet in the first of five added minutes, when Tel prodded Kulusevski’s deep ball to the back post home.

It made for a nervy ending at Villa Park, but the hosts successfully saw out the remainder of stoppage time to secure only a second FA Cup triumph over their North London opponents in eight attempts. A place in the fifth round awaits, for which Emery’s men will discover their opponents in Monday evening’s draw.