🚨 Aston Villa ease into FA Cup quarter-finals with win over Cardiff

Aston Villa put in a dominant performance that was otherwise not reflected on the scoresheet after their comfortable 2-0 win over Cardiff in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Scorers: Asensio 68′, 80′

Unai Emery’s outfit remains on the hunt for major honours this season after progressing out of the Champions League group phase while doing enough tonight to reach the quarterfinals of the competition.

It was all one-way traffic in the opening 45 minutes at Villa Park as Emery’s men had Cardiff on the ropes throughout,  but the Premier League side remained unable to break the deadlock despite 13 shots, three of which were big chances while keeping the Bluebirds to just two shots of their own.

Villa would finally break the deadlock after the interval in the 68th minute through January addition Marco Asensio.

The Spanish midfielder continued his good run of form since arriving from PSG with an expertly taken finish from inside the box to convert Marcus Rashford’s deflected pass that found him in stride.

Asensio would then go on to complete his brace on the night 12 minutes later when he found himself in acres of space in the center of the box to calmly dispatch his effort past Ethan Horvath to put Villa out of sight.

Emery will no doubt feel confident that his record of winning major honours across his time in Spain is now close to being replicated during his second stint in England.

📸 OLI SCARFF – AFP or licensors