Aston Villa looked set to progress to the Fourth Round of the FA Cup on Sunday evening after Morgan Sanson gave them a 1-0 lead in the first half. 

However, two goals from League Two side Stevenage with moments remaining mean the Villains were knocked out of the competition. 

After Jamie Reid equalised for the Boro, Villa looked shell shocked having gone down to ten men with Leander Dendoncker's dismissal.

Stevenage exploited this and went on to find a last-minute winner through Dean Campbell, to give the Boro an away trip to Stoke in Round Four. 

  • Unai Emery - "We can only make one mistake, not two" 

 

Villa boss Unai Emery reacted to being on the wrong end of a cup upset after the game, speaking to the Aston Villa website:

“We are so sorry for the supporters. I’m very upset, like them.”

“Now it’s my idea to try and come back so quickly thinking about the match here at home on Friday against Leeds United."

The loss against the League Two side continue's an unwanted record for Aston Villa, having not won a single game in the FA Cup since 2016, when they beat Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 in a Third Round Replay at Villa Park. Albeit, this was in a season when Villa were relegated from the Premier League. 

 

A lot has changed since that season, with the Villa squad in a better place with more investment. However, despite the improvement from all those years ago, they still failed to find a posItive result in this season's FA Cup campaign against lower league opposition: 

“We can speak about the match we played today and the FA Cup and how it was very important for us to do something we haven’t done for a long time.

Since Emery joined the club in November, performances have improved to an extent at Villa. 

However, Emery stated that the disappointment of the FA Cup loss to Stevenage is another "process" on their journey: 

“My process here started two months ago and to feel this way is a process too. We are going to work to try and identify the things we have to improve.”

The former Arsenal boss was disappointed with the chances wasted by his Villa players, which they were ultimately punished for: 

“So many chances, getting into the box, and we were not clinical enough to score the second goal and finish the match.

“At the end, they really played with the possibility in their mind to make us make a mistake. They played with long balls, second actions and crosses, and they pushed for a draw.

“We can only make one mistake, not two.”

Aston Villa will look to put their cup exit behind them when they face Leeds United at Villa Park on January 13, 20:00 GMT.