Source: Telegraph
Reading 2 Aston Villa 4: match report
Aston Villa completed a remarkable 11-minute recovery to book a return to Wembley and a place in the FA Cup semi-finals.[LNB]It was an outstanding tie with underdogs Reading, 2-0 up after 42 minutes, deflated after going so close to their first semi-final for 84 years.[LNB]Trailing to two first half goals from Shane Long, the beaten Carling Cup finalists responded early in the second half with John Carew, playing only after Gabriel Agbonlahor reported sick, scoring twice to add to Ashley Young's earlier goal.[LNB]And Carew finished the day perfectly by both winning and converting a last minute penalty to claim a hat-trick.[LNB]Long was back after a four-game ban, having been sent off against West Bromwich Albion in the 2-2 draw here in the previous round. But Villa had already suffered a set-back earlier in the day when Agbonlahor, their 14-goal striker, was ruled out with a stomach bug and his place went to Carew.[LNB]Having seen off Liverpool, Burnley and West Brom, a team just one point off the Championship relegation zone wasted little time in making their mark, with a goal harshly disallowed.[LNB]Just 10 minutes had been played when, from a corner, Brian Howard's cross caused problems but Reading's Matt Mills was adjudged to have pushed Villa's Stephen Warnock before Jimmy Kebe planted the ball beyond Brad Friedel.[LNB]Villa rallied briefly but Reading turned up the heat and after Jay Tabb won a corner, the Championship side took the lead with a simple 27th minute goal superbly executed. Howard's left wing corner was headed on by Mills and finished with ease by Long, the Irishman claiming his fifth goal in as many games with a simple header.[LNB]Within a minute Villa though they had levelled but Carew was given offside has he converted James Milner's free-kick, though replays showed that Long's boot had actually played the striker on-side.[LNB]But Reading's dream of a Wembley visit improved further when they added a second goal three minutes from the interval.[LNB]Gylfi Siggurdson's pass from the half way line sent Kebe scurrying and the midfielder, spotting two men in blue and whiter hoops, fed Long, who had peeled off from his marker to side-foot his latest goal.[LNB]But Villa wasted little time in responding, with a goal after just 77 seconds of the restart. Warnock and Crew combined for Carlos Cuellar and though he scuffed a shot, Ashley Young converted from close range. And the revival continued when, with 51 minutes played, Villa were back on level terms with another simple goal.[LNB]Stewart Downing crossed from the right and Carew nodded the equaliser beyond Adam Federici. It left the 4,000 travelling Villa fans, many of whom had booed their team off at half-time, in ecstasy and singing of a return to Wembley.[LNB]And by the 57th minute of this pulsating tie the come-back was complete. Warnock was allowed room to cross from the left and Carew proffered a deft touch with his right-foot to put Villa into a 3-2 lead.[LNB]Villa had the chance to secure the win in the 68th minute when Heskey galloped forward, resisted a challenge from Mills but saw Federici make an outstanding save, the goalkeeper palming the ball clear with his right glove.[LNB]Reading did their best to respond in this enthralling tie when, in the 70th minute, Ivar Ingimarsson was presented with a header, but he was denied the equaliser only by a goal-line clearance by Ashley Young.[LNB]Friedel made a late, telling save on his line as Reading pressed for an equaliser but Villa held on to move to within one game of a second cup final appearance of the season. And in the first minute of added time, Ingimarsson brought down Carew and the big Norwegian responded with a brilliantly taken spot-kick to claim his hat-trick. [LNB]
