Aston Villa - 3 (Symons og 22. McCann 71. Angel 80.)
Crystal Palace - 0

Palace went into this match looking for a place in the last eight of the competition, but unfortunately, so did Villa. There could only be one winner on the night, and our Premiership opposition was to prove too strong, though we certainly had fun on our night out. Kit Symons remained caretaker/manager following his re-appointment by Simon Jordan, which took place immediately following the match against Coventry City.

Thomas Hitzlsperger got a good cross in that Juan Pablo Angel headed wide of the post, and Cedric Berthelin, deputising for the injured Thomas Myhre, got his first touch of the ball with the resulting goal kick. Darius Vassell tried the next shot at goal, Cedric managing to get his feet in the way of the goalwards bound attempt, before Stefan Moore had a go, his effort going wide once more.

Vassell fouled Tony Popovic well into our area, Cedric taking the free kick; and then the courtesy was returned by Tony fouling Angel, Olof Mellberg taking the free kick. Hitzlsperger fired the ball into the area, Dion Dublin getting on the end of it only to see his shot go wide once more, and the run of play seemed to stay with Villa. Gavin McCann crossed the ball back into our danger area and Gareth Barry fired wide again, though a little help was given to the ball, and a corner ensued. Neil Shipperley was the man back to avert any danger.

Jlloyd Samuel fouled Dougie Freedman, the free kick being taken by Curtis Fleming, before the ball came back once again to our area, this time Vassell trying a shot; once again it was wide of the mark. Moore fired the ball wide yet again before Angel was caught offside, and Kit took the free kick, though we seemed incapable of mounting any pressure on the Villa goal. Vassell then was offside, but the goal was not far away, as a cross came in from Angel that looked non-threatening until Kit found himself in the way of the ball, and it deflected straight into the back of the net, giving Cedric little chance.

Hitzlsperger tried a shot that Cedric held on well to before Moore put a shot over the top of the bar, giving us a relieving goal kick. Dougie was caught offside before the ball once again looked threatening to us, Kit clearing the danger. McCann fired a shot wide of the posts once more, and a corner to Villa was played in by Barry with Mellberg firing in a shot that Cedric managed to hold on to. Danny Butterfield fired a cross into the Villa area, but Ulises De La Cruz was on hand to clear the danger, and Kit cleared the danger at our end as play continued to take place mostly in our goalmouth.

McCann took Villa's next corner, Cedric punching the ball clear, and then Moore handled the ball, Tommy Black taking the resulting free kick. Hitzlsperger fouled Michael Hughes, and was booked for his trouble, and Gary Borrowdale fired the ball into Dougie, his header being well saved by Thomas Sorensen in the Villa goal. Tommy then tried a shot that went over the top of the bar, and a series of niggling fouls by both sides followed before Hitzlsperger fired in a shot that Cedric held easily on to.

Neil got a shot on goal that was caught by Sorensen before Palace won a corner that Michael floated in, the keeper punching the ball clear. The half was over, and we could consider ourselves lucky not to be more than one goal down. The game was still there for the taking though, and we all looked forward to the second half.

An immediate substitution was made at the start of the second period with Wayne Routledge replacing Tommy, and Vassell was caught offside, the free kick being taken by Cedric. Shaun Derry took the next free kick, which resulted from a foul by McCann on Michael before Angel was caught offside. Dougie then tried a shot that was saved by Sorensen and Michael fired in a shot that was blocked by Samuel. As another corner fell to Palace we made another change, this time Aki Riihilahti replacing Curtis, and Wayne took the kick, but it was cleared by Dublin. Palace managed to get the ball back and Neil tried a header that the keeper stopped and once again a series of fouls ensued that somewhat marred the game.

De La Cruz tried a shot that missed the goalmouth, and somehow Michael managed to get offside before Angel handled the ball and Dougie fired the free kick over the top of the bar. Tony cleared the next ball played in by Villa, and Dougie tried another shot that was quite easily saved by the keeper. It was all too good to last though, and as Angel fired another cross in McCann headed the ball down from close quarters, and we suddenly found ourselves two goals down, and time running out.

Hitzlsperger fired a shot wide of the posts, and Villa made a change of their own with Barry being replaced by Pete Whittingham. Immediately they then swapped Vassell for Marcus Allback and Palace won a corner that was fired in by Danny, the chance being wasted. Samuel tried a shot that Cedric saved well, and Palace made their final change, Ben Watson coming on to replace Shaun. McCann tried a shot that went wide of the post, and then Allback was caught offside, Tony taking the free kick.

Of course, all good things come to an end, and Hitzlsperger fired the ball into the centre once more, and this time Angel was on hand to finish things off with a well-taken goal. 3-0 down, and no way back now, but the game had shown that Palace fans could enjoy themselves no matter what. There was still 10 minutes to run, and we all willed the side on to at least score a consolation goal. Villa now made their final change with Dublin going off to be replaced by Liam Ridgewell.

Angel tried another shot on goal that Cedric did well to hang on to, and Moore tried a shot that he did equally as well with. Dougie got a shot on goal that went wide of the posts, and Villa won a corner that was wasted. Angel tried his final shot of the match that Tony managed to get in the way of, the corner being cleared by Danny, and Whittingham fired the ball over the top of the bar. As Cedric took the goal kick the final whistle sounded, and though beaten we now head off to face Preston on Saturday feeling somewhat confident of picking up the three points. Only time will tell I guess.

Colin Pryce

Aston Villa: Thomas Sorensen, Ulises De La Cruz, Olof Mellberg, Dion Dublin (Liam Ridgewell 80), Jlloyd Samuel, Stefan Moore, Gavin McCann, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Gareth Barry (Pete Whittingham 72), Juan Pablo Angel, Darius Vassell (Marcus Allback 73).

Substitutes not used: Lee Hendrie, Stefan Postma.

Crystal Palace: Cedric Berthelin, Curtis Fleming (Aki Riihilahti 56), Kit Symons, Tony Popovic, Gary Borrowdale, Danny Butterfield, Shaun Derry (Ben Watson 78), Michael Hughes, Tommy Black (Wayne Routledge 45), Neil Shipperley, Dougie Freedman.

Substitutes not used: Thomas Myhre, Danny Granville.

Attendance: 24,258

Referee: Mr M Dean