Middlesbrough 0-1 Aston Villa
by Roger Domeneghetti
at Riverside Stadium

THE LAST time Villa beat Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, in 1957, they went on to win to lift the trophy.

Although this was not a vintage, cup-winning performance from Unai Emery’s team, it was, thanks to Matty Cash’s wickedly deflected shot, enough to see them progress to the fourth round for the first time since 2016.

Prior to kick-off, it was hard to know what this competition meant to either side, and thus how they would approach the game.