New Delhi: The tie at Goodison Park started brightly with three goals including two converted penalties in the opening half hour. Jack Rodwell scored his first senior goal for Everton before Tim Cahill sealed the win in the 76th minute.
FA Cup success has eluded both managers, David Moyes has only won six ties in his seven years as manager of Everton while Martin O’Neil has collected two League Cups as a player and a manager as well as multiple honours with Celtic in Scotland, but he is yet to taste FA Cup success. Both teams have shown impressed Premier League form and seem to be due a FA Cup run.
Everton started the game flying, forcing a corner in the first minute. Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel managed to scramble away the delivery from Leighton Baines. Minutes later Everton had taken the lead, Mikel Arteta floated in a beautifully weighted corner that Tim Cahill powered goalwards. Stillyan Petrov played goalkeeper saving with his arm and the ball fell to Jack Rodwell who rifled it home from a tight angle. It was the 17 year olds first senior goal for Everton.
Petrov, lucky to still be on the field, then played a key part in Villa’s equaliser in the eighth minute. The midfielder launched a ball forward that Gabriel Agbonlahor latched onto, a clumsy challenge on the edge of the box by Tony Hibbert saw the referee point to the spot. James Milner stepped up and another slice of good fortune saw him slot the ball home via the palm and hip of Tim Howard. It was Villa’s first real attack of the game.
More penalty box action saw Cahill rise above Craig Gardener, the Australian raised his arm to direct the ball goalwards. Friedel was fuming and Cahill was duly booked for the infringement. The yellow card means he will serve a suspension and Moyes will surely not be pleased.
Villa were struggling to get out of their half with Everton passing it around neatly in midfield. The visitors seem happy to absorb Everton pressure and were punished as Victor Anichebe powered his way into the box, scything his way through two Villa defenders before Steve Sidwell slid in from behind bringing the Nigerian down, penalty! Arteta stepped up and made no mistake, sending Friedel the wrong way to put Everton ahead for a second time.
Everton continued to press forward but it was Villa to spring on the counter and create the next meaningful chance. Ashley Young was involved, sending a beautiful cross into the box for Agbonlahor who did well to pull off his man. The forward had a free header from 5 yards and wasted the chance, allowing the ball to bounce off his shoulder to go wide. It was a great opportunity.
The second half saw Everton become more conservative in their play, opting to retain possession rather than looking to attack as expansively as they did in the first 45 minutes. Arteta continued to pull the strings in midfield and he released Dan Gosling whose cross was well blocked by Craig Gardener. The resulting corner was broken up by a foul on the goalkeeper.
Villa managed to engineer a chance on the hour mark. John Carew, who had been quiet up to this point, ran across his defender to meet the ball and his flick header produced a sublime save from Howard. The American keeper dived low to his right and pushed the ball out for a corner.
The game began to open up again with Villa venturing forward in search of an equaliser. In the 72nd minute Sidwell had a good chance to equalise with a header he sent over the bar supplied by a cross from Milner. In truth Aston Villa’s finishing had been poor all afternoon and they were largely feeding from uncharacteristic defensive mistakes from Everton.
The winning goal was scored by Cahill following goal work by Anichebe on the right flank. The Nigerian powered into the channel and sent the ball across the box with the outside of his right boot. Cahill met the cross and scuffed the ball into the net.
In the closing ten minutes Everton became ultra-conservative, replacing Anichebe in the closing minutes with Joseph Yobo. Moyes perhaps understandably worried considering the events in the league fixture between these sides in December where Villa dramatically stole three points in the dying moments of the game.
Everton were good value for their win, only conceding five goals in their last twelve games. The win ends a streak of 11 unbeaten games for Aston Villa and O’Neil’s side looked very ordinary. The Villa boss will be hoping his side can recover from this disappointment and continue their Premier League and UEFA Cup run. Everton reach their first quarter-final since 2002.
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