Aston Villa overcame two Championship sides and three Premier League sides on the route to Wembley, where they take on Arsenal, come Saturday evening in the final.
Third Round - Aston Vila 1-0 Blackpool:
Villa were struggling for goals in the Premier League when they encountered Blackpool on a cold, Sunday afternoon. Blackpool, who were bottom of the Championship at this stage in the season, worried Villa throughout, threatening on many occasions. The 22,000 strong crowd was getting frustrated with the now ex-Villa manager, Paul Lambert. It took a fine effort from Christian Benteke in the 88th minute to spare blushes, arguably the closest Villa have came to defeat so far.
Fourth Round - Aston Villa 2-1 AFC Bournemouth:
A potential banana skin was overcome in a far from comfortable fixture for the Villans. Eddie Howe made large changes to his promotion pushing side, but they still played the far better football and were unlucky not to punish Villa.Villa debutant, Carles Gil announced himself to the Villa faithful with a curling effort to avoid another Premier League giant killing, on the weekend where Chelsea and Manchester City were knocked out by Bradford and Middlesbrough respectively. In reality Premier League quality had the edge this day. Weimann provided Villa's second.
Fifth Round - Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester City:
Awful league form led to the sacking of Paul Lambert just before this fifth round fixture. The first half looked like a game destine for a 0-0. The poor league form of both sides showed with a lack of confidence. The announcement that Tim Sherwood would be taking over buoyed the atmosphere at Villa Park though. Leicester struggled to cope in the second half after Sherwood went down to the dressing room and said a few words. The shackles looked off from the previous regime, with Villa reaping the rewards. Bacuna and Sinclair were on target as Aston Villa overcame the Foxes.
Quarter Final - Aston Villa 2-0 West Bromwich Albion:
Two teams that are separated by a Tesco (no jibes meant) and four miles was always going to lead to a classic encounter, and it was for all the wrong reasons. From start to finish Villa looked on top. Sherwood had reinvigorated his plummeting side and had a good omen after a later Benteke winner in the league fixture against West Brom four days earlier. Delph scored with a driving effort to open the scoring in the second half. The atmosphere inside Villa park soon became poisonous after Yacob was harshly sent off. In the 85th minute Villa scored a second thanks to Scott Sinclair. Sinclair broke from a West Bromwich corner and finished astutely leading to wild celebrations. Villa reaching their first semi-final since 2010 was marred by the pitch invasions, and ugly scenes.
Semi Final - Aston Villa 2-1 Liverpool:
A game of pure beauty for Villa fans on a day where the Liverpool fans turned on Rodgers. From kick off Villa looked the more capable side. Cruelly, Liverpool struck first though, Coutinho waltzing past a few Villa men to finish coolly past Shay Given. The new found grit founded by Sherwood showed though, it took six minutes for Villa to reply. Christian Benteke finished off a fantastic move started by the instrumental Delph; helped on by the eccentric Grealish. From this moment on Villa never looked like the side that was fighting for survival in the Premier League. The captain Marvel, Fabian Delph finished coolly, nine minutes into the second half, to give Villa victory. It was a day for celebration as Villa reached their first FA Cup final since the year 2000, while they had ruined Steven Gerrard's dream Wembley date.
Final - Aston Villa TBD - TBD Arsenal:
Aston Villa have not won an FA Cup since 1957 when Peter McParland was the hero. Arsenal, meanwhile are looking to secure back to back FA Cup victories. Only one story will prevail.
