Importance Score: 10 / 100 🟠
Key events
GOAL! Preston North End 0-3 Aston Villa (Ramsey 72)
Villa are going to Wembley! Digne finds Ramsey, who turns adroitly, away from Storey and, with no the centre of the Preston defence vacant, he drives for the space then, just inside the box, shoots cross Cornell who allows the ball, at nice saveable height, to pass between his hands.
70 min Excellent diag from Kamara– he’s played well today – to find Rashford, who finds an excellent disguised, blind-side ball in behind for Rogers, but Cornell is on top of him quickly – he’s got off his line really well today – and smothers then collects the eventuating shot.
69 min Rogers, by the way, has played well again. He’s not done anything brilliant, but his physicality and desire to commit defenders means he’s a handful in any game – at the very least.
68 min Whiteman blooters Rogers from behind and is booked.
67 min “That penalty is is a good example of why a regular foul in the box should simply be a free kick instead of an 80% chance of a goal, reckons Hugo Molloy. “Intentional (professional) foul, or offence that prevents a goalscoring opportunity anywhere on the pitch should be a penalty, everything else a free-kick. How exiting would direct free kicks be from 12yds versus penalties.”
I agree with all of this. All the guff about what is and isn’t a penalty misses the essential point: most of the offences that yield one are nowhere near severe enough to yield one.
65 min It’s a real shame for Preston, who’ve played well and were improving, to see the tie finished so mercilessly. But a little bit of quality, and composure from Asensio – what a loan he’s turned out to be – undid all their good work.
64 min Change for Preston, Osmajic – under investigation for allegedly racially abusing Hannibal Mejbri – replacing Keane.
GOAL! Preston North End 0-2 Aston Villa (Rashford 63)
Rashford pauses, pauses again, watches the keeper move left, then passes bottom-right. He’s on a roll!
PENALTY TO VILLA!
61 min Villa almost score again, Meghoma blocking Rogers’ close-range shot, then Rogers finds Ramsey, accepts a return pass, and when he pokes out of the box, Hughes lunges, introducing studs to metatarsus, and the ref has no choice but to point to the spot. This game, well in the balance, might suddenly be over.
GOAL! Preston North End 0-1 Aston Villa (Rashford 58)
Goodness me he needed that. Ramsey is robbed in midfield but Asensio picks up the loose ball, turns cunningly and away from trouble, then finds Rogers again. He slides left to Digne and from there the outcome is inevitable, a low square-pass arriving in front of the onrushing Rashford, who sidefoots firmly past Cornell. That’s his first Villa goal, and he looks more relieved than elated.
57 min Rogers gets Cash going, but Meghoma is into him so quickly; Preston are properly in this match now, not sitting about hoping not to concede.
54 min “Say what you like about Emi Martínez (and plenty must have been said about him in Brazil this week),” returns Justin Kavanagh, “but is there any keeper you’d rather have for a penalty shootout, if this stays deadlocked?”
I wonder if Arsenal regret flogging him. I know David Raya is fine, but I know which of the two I’d prefer.
52 min Rogers strides through midfield, running away from Meghoma and burrowing infield. And, though, he gets lucky when a challenge allows him to feed Rashford, outside him, the pass is nicely weighted and timed, Rashford cutting inside and across his marker as Cornell rushes out, the finish, slotted to the side of him, lacking venom and catching the keeper’s thigh, allowing him to collect easily enough. If he’d put his laces through that, he might just’ve scored.
50 min Preston win a free-kick out o0n the right, 40 yards from goal with Brady to deliver. But rather than swing in a typically vicious cross, he goes short and infield, the move failing to create the opportunity to deliver a telling cross. I don’t know, on the one hand I applaud the creativity but, on the other, that was a chance to cause Villa problems, spurned in favour of over-complication. But the home side have started the second half well.
48 min Mings flights a long ball down the line, it scrapes a Preston player, goes behind, and the ref awards a corner. It goes short, a cross to the back post targets Rogers, and Brady uses his experience to ease the Villa man out of it. There are hopeful calls for a foul, but nothing doing.
46 min Villa, who I daresay will have heard Unai Emery speak some words during the break, get us under way again.
Half-time email: “Watching the Argentina v Brazil game the other night from the same stadium that gave us those unforgettable ticker-tape matches in the 1978 World Cup,” says Justin Kavanagh, “I couldn’t help notice that something was missing with the Albiceleste playing at home on such a pristine pitch. Maybe Preston can start a similar Cup tradition today with their bothersome balloons.”
Half-time entertainment:
HALF-TIME: Preston North End 0-0 Aston Villa
A half-job well done by Preston. They’ve had the better chances, while Villa need to improve.
45 min Keane is late on Konsa, who doesn’t much enjoy the experience, but the challenge was nowhere near violent enough to incur a second booking.
44 min “So far, Heckingbottom has out-tacticked Emery, a manager who rarely in-tactics his opposite number,” returns Kári Tulinius. The Preston defence is wide across the field, denying space on the wings, and though that means they don’t defend in depths, so far Villa’s central attackers haven’t figured out how to thread their way through the line.”
Preston play like this most weeks so know what they’re doing, but yup, any blanket defence is difficult to pierce. Villa need to get their one-touch stuff going because that’s one way they might get in behind: moving the ball too quickly for the defenders to adjust.
43 min We’ve played nearly a full half and the Champions League quarter-finalists have yet to create a chance.
41 min Mings punches out to Asensio, whose cross is cleared, so Villa build again, looking to stretch Preston, before Kamara snaps a decent ball into the box that’s got just oo much on it for Asensio.
39 min “Personally, I hope they don’t clear the balloons off the field,” writes Kári Tulinius, “because then they’d remove the one interesting aspect of the game.”
They’re all gone now, so I’m afraid we’ve no choice but to focus on the football. Pah etc.
38 min This time it’s Rashford with it – Phil Jones must be unavailable – the cross driven into the middle of the six-yard box, but it’s behind Konsa who can only contort to head high.
36 min This one goes short to the near post, but Preston are wise to the ruse and clear easily enough. They’re growing in confidence but, as I type, Brady concedes yet another corner, Vill’a seventh (7th) of the half.
36 min Cash clips down the line and over the top, setting Rogers away, but Meghoma does really well to get back at him, for cost of another corner.
35 min It was a really good ball in from Brady, and I’m certain Preston will look to find him at every opportunity; perhaps they might load up on the back post even more heavily, because this looks their likeliest route to goal.
33 min A poor pass from Ramsey allows Preston to counter, Frokjaer moving through midfield and when the ball is again spread to Brady, he looks for the near post … but Mings heads away.
32 min Cash finds space down the right and crosses low, Rashford darting across to the front post, but Gibson defends well, then Whiteman concedes a corner which yields another, and again, Preston get the ball away.
30 min Better from Preston, Brady stepping infield and crossing towards the back post as expected. And though Martinez claws away acrobatically, when Frokjaer nods back across, Thodarson dashes in front of Keane and he’s got a clear sight of goal … but can’t get enough on the ball, heading weakly wide.
29 min …and Rashford tries the knuckle ball, but it hits Miongs and Preston clear.
28 min A quiet period, Preston shutting Villa down nicely, but when Rogers flicks a pass through midfield for Tielemans, Keane beings him down and is booked. Free-kick villa, 30 yards out, dead centre…
26 min “Do you think Jacob Ramsey can work his way into Tuchel’s squad?” wonders Gary Stover.
Er, perhaps. I’m not sure I see the quality of a regular, given how intense the competition is, but I’d not be surprised to see him a cap or two
24 min Thordarson works the ball out of defence nicely and though Brady’s pass into midfield is behind Jakobsen, Preston reset, clear a long ball, and attack down the right … before Frokjaer fouls Konsa.
23 min Stuart McCall is one of the Preston coaches, and of course he and the Cup have form:
21 min But it’s Digne going at it from the other side, swinging over the wall and over the bar. Waste.
20 min Digne into Ramsey who collects on the stretch via excellent first touch and slides by Gibson … who fouls him. Free-kick Villa, 25 yards out, left of centre and Rashford behind it..
19 min Rogers runs at Gibson, turning this way and that, but with the defender’s blood already fully twisted he tries once more when he has no need to and is robbed.
17 min “I can’t believe they havn’t been cleared,” says Dave Estherby of the balloons. “Sounds a bit silly but you can imagine the whinging if there’s an offside confusion between the ball and a white balloon or if either goalkeeper suffers a Pepe Reina style mishap…”
I promise I will cope with the whinging if we have so glorious an eternal moment bestowed upon us.
15 min Preston are really struggling to get out, but have yet to concede a proper chance. And the home fans want a free-kick when Meghoma is yanked back by Cash, but the ref disagrees.
14 min The corner is half-cleared at the front post, then Asensio spills a lush cross to the back post, but Konsa doesn’t get enough on his flick-header.