For the second time in less than a week, Aston Villa have been knocked out of a domestic cup competition by a lower league side. On Tuesday, they fell victim to a great performance by Bradford City and missed a chance to go to Wembley. On Friday, they went to The Den and gave up two soft goals to Millwall in a 2-1 victory for the Lions.
Millwall vs. Aston Villa: Final score 2-1, Villains’ misery continues
The FA Cup weekend got off to a roaring start with a bit of an upset, though Aston Villa disappointing in defeat is hardly anything new.
Darren Bent got Villa off to a good start with a 22nd minute goal, assisted by Andreas Weimann. While Bent's finish wasn't exactly a technically beautiful one, it got the job done. He mishit the ball, but David Forde dived the wrong way and the ball rolled across the line.
Villa couldn’t hold onto that lead, and gave up an equalizer just five minutes later. It came in the most predictable fashion, through a set piece. The Villains have struggled to defend set plays through a number of managerial changes over the years, and were unsurprisingly beaten by Danny Shittu.
The second half featured an unfortunate incident in which a linesperson was hit with a bottle thrown from the crowd. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident, and multiple bottles made their way onto the pitch during the match. Because this is hardly a new occurrence at The Den, the match resumed quickly.
John Marquis netted the winner on the 89th minute, as the Villa defense lost their composure. Adam Smith, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, struck the crossbar following a throw-in and Marquis buried a follow-up effort with a header to send Millwall on to the next round.
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