ASTON Villa made heavy weather of this replay against a spirited Wycombe side but two late goals ensured that the Premier League strugglers stay in the hat.
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| Ciaran Clark celebrates opening the scoring for Aston Villa after 75 minutes |
With nerves fraying and the Wycombe support growing in belief, it took the introduction of Carles Gil to unlock the tie. He set up Ashley Westwood on the right and his cross was met by Ciaran Clark who headed firmly home for the opener.
Idrissa Gueye then scored a second in the last minute to add gloss to the scoreline.
Yet this was not convincing and the prize for scraping past Wycombe at a second attempt is a clash with Manchester City, a match which could put the brakes on Villa’s gathering momentum.
That said, Remi Garde’s side have two wins and a draw from their last three matches in all competitions which is a significant improvement.
Indeed, they are gaining self-belief after a win against Crystal Palace and an important draw against leaders Leicester. And for that, Villa’s fans must be grateful.
Garde acknowledged the primacy of the Premier League when insisting a “very difficult” match against West Brom at the weekend was at the forefront of his thinking.
His team selection, making nine changes from Saturday, appeared to back up the feeling that his priority is staying up.
Wycombe, separated by 54 places in the league structure, started better. Chasing every ball in front of travelling support of around 4,000 in the North Stand, they looked the hungrier by some margin.
For all that the League Two outfit pressed and harried in the final third, they created little in the early stages but it changed after 30 minutes when Sam Wood carved out the first of two good chances.
Keeper Brad Guzan is in need of a decent performance after getting on the wrong side of some fans during the first attempt to settle this tie.
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| Clark heading Aston Villa into the lead at Villa Park against Wycombe |
Not only has Mark Bunn loaded pressure on him with decent performances in the league, but Villa have also attempted to lure Lovre Kalinic from Hajduk Split with £4.9million being mentioned.
Yet Guzman produced when it mattered, turning Wood’s well-struck half-volley round a post after the midfielder had latched on to Paul Hayes looping cross from the right.
If that was a warning sign Villa did little to heed it and Wycombe carved out another good chance before the break, Joe Jacobson swinging in a superb cross from the left which Garry Thompson headed over.
Villa created very little early on, much to the annoyance of home fans who vented their frustration at the break.
The best of their chances came when Jordan Ayew cut in from the left side only to hit his shot into the side-netting after 40 minutes.
Garde withdrew Carlos Sanchez at the break replacing him with Gueye. Villa’s trouble was they had no focus up front, with Rudi Gestede producing an inept display which appeared to characterise everything that is wrong with Villa’s season.
The Holte End started to grow restless when Thompson had another free header which he again sent over.
Scott Sinclair forced two chances just after the hour mark, the second of which Aaron Pierre blocked.
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| Idrissa Gueye putting the tie to bed with his late goal in the FA Cup third round replay |
But Gil’s arrival for the ineffectual Jack Grealish changed the course of the tie and Gueye’s late strike from the left side of the penalty area put the replay to bed.
Following the match Remi Garde admitted he understands the frustrations of the Villa crowd but insisted he detects signs of improvement.
“I can unerstants the frustration in the crowd. I accept and I saw also my team were very poor technically in the last hour. I am happy with the result though.
“Am I relieved? Yes you can say that. Even if the result took a long time to come it was a fair one.
“It took an hour for us to dominate and I was disappointed for the first hour’s play then we started to play more collectively and more quickly and more simply which put them more in trouble.
“We are in a difficult row with four games in nine days. I wanted to rest players because I don’t want to lose players to injury. But the team I put out was good enough to win the match though and should have done better.
“It is a big positive going forward but we need more. The last four games are important for confidence off the players and every one here bu we have to do better than we have tonight.
“Sometimes this type of game is a trap but we have made the victory.
"The last four games unbeaten is a good run. We have done nothing and won nothing but given the situation where we were for the last few weeks I prefer where we are now.
"When the crowd is booing it is difficult for the players to play in this environment but we have to play better [if we are to silence it]. In the two home games we play against Leicester and Palace the crowd have been behind us because we playing better."
ASTON VILLA (4-2-3-1): Guzan; Lyden, Richards, Clark, Richardson; Sanchez (Gueye 45), Westwood; Ayew, Grealish (Gil 73), Sinclair; Gestede. Goals: Clark 75, Gueye 90.
WYCOMBE (4-3-2-1): Ingram; McCarthy, Stewart, Pierre, Jacobson; Bloomfield (McGinn 54), O’Nien, Wood; Harriman, Hayes (Holloway 73); Thompson (Ugwu 80). Booked: Jacobson.
Referee: C Pawson (South Yorkshire)
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