Aston Villa fought back from being behind twice to earn themselves a replay of this FA Cup Fifth Round tie after finishing 2-2 at Selhurst Park today against a spirited Crystal Palace side.

Martin O’Neill showed respect for Palace and the competition by sending out a very strong side, with Friedel taking over goal keeping duties, it could perhaps be interpreted as a signal of his thinking for the Carling Cup Final in two weeks time. Then again, this is MON we’re talking about, the words ‘cards’, ‘close’ and ‘chest’ spring to mind.

Villa didn’t make life easy on themselves, spending most of the first half apparently in some major hurry to get this tie killed off as soon as possible. Every throw and free kick taken quickly, giving Palace no time to settle. The tactic appeared to be knocking Palace off their stride, but they battled on and although it was against the run of play, they weren’t bad value for opening the scoring in the 24th minute when Johannes Ertl scored his first ever goal for Palace, beating both Warnock and Friedel to the ball from a corner.

Villa looked a little rattled, but gathered their composure enough to get back on top. Stewart Downing’s left footed free kick, whipped in from the right hand touchline, fell superbly to James Collins at the near post who nodded in the equaliser in the 35th minute and Villa looked to re-establish their superiority. Palace weren’t going to lie down though and delivered another warning just before half time when Brad Friedel was forced to merely punch away a stinging free kick from just outside the area.

Villa looked a little calmer in the second half with John Carew replacing Emile Heskey and possibly made a greater contribution within 10 minutes than Heskey had made throughout the first half. His first effort well saved at the near post by Palace keeper, Speroni, as Carew latched on to a delightful through ball from Stewart Downing.

However, it was Palace who re-took the lead in the 70th minute with an absolutely stunning driven free kick measured at 36 yards that nestled in the top corner giving Brad Friedel absolutely no chance. And once again, it knocked the stuffing out of Villa who struggled to regain their composure.

MON threw Nathan Delfouneso on for the last 15 minutes in place of Fabian Delph in search of the equaliser. Villa came close on a handful of occasions as the final whistle loomed, but were frequently guilty of being wasteful with the final ball.

Carew probably thought he’d won it when his point blank header was inexplicably saved by Speroni’s face, but it was captain Petrov who saved the day with a fantastic glancing header from the resultant corner. A corner which is hotly disputed by Neil Warnock as it may have gone out off Delfouneso, but I didn’t hear any complaints from Palace minutes earlier when Delfouneso was flagged offside in a promising position, despite being several yards onside. That’s football.

In the end, it was one of those classic cup ties where a lower league opposition, who happens to be in dire straights right now and fighting for survival, gave everything they had against a Premier League side and did well to earn themselves a replay. A replay that won’t be exactly convenient for Villa, coming in the week building up to the Carling Cup final at Wembley.

Still, we don’t have Europe to be concerned about and I’d rather still be in the FA Cup than out of it, so it is what it is. We’re still in it and may well have the chance to play an exciting quarter final at the Hawthorns. Of course it would be more enticing if we didn’t have the hassle of having to beat Palace at Villa Park first, but that’s just the way it is.

FA Cup Quarter Final Draw

• Chelsea vs Man City or Stoke
• Fulham vs Bolton or Spurs
• Reading or WBA vs Palace or Villa
• Portsmouth vs Birmingham City

6th Round matches will be played over the weekend of 6 and 7 March 2010.

[Picture Credit: Fanfeedr]