City claim replay win

Tuesday, 14, Mar 2006 10:14

Manchester City are into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup after a 2-1 win in their replay with Aston Villa at Eastlands.

Georgios Samaras and Darius Vassell had put City in control but Steven Davis pulled one back for the away side with five minutes to go.

City goalkeeper David James almost gifted the lead to Villa early on as a moment of madness left him stranded with the ball at the feet of Milan Baros.

However, the Czech international failed to get his shot away in time and the chance was wasted.

Greek international Samaras was a danger throughout the first half and his opening goal on 17 minutes epitomised this as he created a chance out of nothing.

He received the ball on the right before flicking the ball past Swedish defender Olof Mellberg and unleashing a powerful shot which Thomas Sorensen failed to hold and he was left to tap in the rebound.

The 21-year-old had to be withdrawn at half-time after coming off worse from a couple of nasty tackles by Liam Ridgewell and Gareth Barry.

However, the home side weren't knocked out their stride as Vassell doubled their lead three minutes into the second-half.

The ex-Villa striker was on hand to divert the ball into the net after Albert Riera had fired a shot into a packed penalty area.

Villa failed to provide a threat going forward for much of the second-half but they gave the home fans a few nervous moments when Davis equalised with five minutes to go.

In their best move of the match, it was the 21-year-old who was on hand to finish well past James.