Villa march on as fans sour game
FABIAN Delph and Scott Sinclair were the heroes for Aston Villa as they continued their resurgence under new boss Tim Sherwood to dump West Brom out of the FA Cup.
In a keenly contested Midlands derby, veteran goalkeeper Shay Given was the star of the show for Aston Villa making a number of crucial saves to deny West Brom.
Hammered in the first half, Villa were transformed after the break as Delph scored six minutes after the restart before Sinclair scored a late breakaway goal – but a late pitch invasion by home fans marred the contest.
West Brom should have gone ahead as early as the sixth minute but Saido Berahino saw his first time shot well saved by Given.
And just three minutes later the Baggies wasted another glorious opportunity as Craig Gardner fed Brown Ideye but the striker could only fire over.
Villa ended the half on the front foot as winger Sinclair tested West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill with a low shot but the half ended as a stalemate.
The game turned on its head on 51 minutes as Charles N’Zogbia switched play with a low squared pass, which England international Delph collected before rifling low past Myhill at his near post.
The Baggies should have been level six minutes later but somehow former England defender Joleon Lescott headed wide of an open goal.
Given was quick off his line to deny the advancing Berahino midway through the half, while at the other end Gabby Agbonlahor was halted by Myhill when he looked clean through. West Brom were reduced to ten men on 80 minutes as Claudio Yacob was given a second yellow card, harshly, for a foul on Villa’s Leandro Bacuna.
With five minutes remaining, Jack Grealish picked the ball up on the counter attack and released Sinclair who raced clear to fire past Myhill.
But in stoppage time Villa’s Grealish was handed a second yellow card for diving. But by then the contest was long over.