No Midlands Magic In Last Eight

24 February 2010 22:37
Baggies out but Blues semi-final remains a possibility Villa will face Championship side Reading in the FA Cup quarter-finals after beating Crystal Palace 3-1 at Villa Park. Gabby Agbonlahor and a John Carew brace settled the fifth round replay and set up a tie against the Royals who ended the possibility of an all Midlands last eight match up by beating West Brom. The Claret and Blue must now tackle two cup encounters in the space of seven days as they battle Manchester United in the Carling Cup showpiece on Sunday and then play their FA Cup clash on Sunday March 7 at 1.15pm. Villa will hope for a repeat performance of the last time they visited the Madejski Stadium when they claimed a 2-1 victory with Ashley Young and Marlon Harewood on the scoresheet. Interestingly, the consolation that day was scored by current Claret and Blue full-back Nicky Shorey, who is now on loan at Fulham.  Villa may have missed out on an all-Midlands tie this time round but, should they progress, the Birmingham could await if they are able to beat Portsmouth at Fratton Park.          

Source: FOOTYMAD