Aston Villa moved into the semi finals of the Women's FA Cup with a gritty, gutsy and determined 2-1 win over Manchester City in the West Midlands.
The hosts took the lead in Walsall with twenty on the clock, skipper Rachel Corsie heading past a helpless Ellie Roebuck giving Villa the first goal of the evening.
A second well executed header forced home an equaliser for Manchester City. A good bit of work from Lauren Hemp on the left hand side that would have delighted her national team manager Sarina Wiegman,, in attendance at the Poundland Bescot Stadium tonight, teed up Deyna Castellanos who headed past Hannah Hampton to level the scores up as the teams went into the break.
A goalless second period sent the game to extra time, where the hosts found an early goal thanks to Rachel Daly who prodded in a second ball after an initial header from a corner was saved to give the home side an FA Cup semi final to look forward to.
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Story of the match
City manager Gareth Taylor was encouraging his side to get play out to Chloe Kelly on the right wing early, with the European Championship Final goalscorer cutting in on two occasions in the first five minutes but clearing the bar both times.
A hopeful ball over the home defence with six on the clock was met by the visitors' striker Khadia Shaw, heading up a three pronged attack, but her effort fell wide of Hannah Hampton's post.
The home side's first forage into Man City's half came through Danielle Turner, who saw her right wing cross deflected behind for a corner that came to nothing.
Villa started to build momentum at the Poundland Bescot Stadium with Kirsty Hanson turning away from Kerstin Casparij and cannoning a low cross to Rachel Daly, the lioness who scored twice for England against Italy only 20 miles away in Coventry, seeing her attempt saved down low by Ellie Roebuck.
An unforced error by Kanza Dali allowed the Citizens to play through Lauren Hemp however her left footed attempt was deflected and no problem for Villa custodian Hampton to catch.
Tricky winger Hanson played an acute ball to Rachel Daly who tried her luck from 30 yards but Roebuck dived well to tip the ball away from the top corner.
However, the visiting keeper could do nothing from the resulting corner. Villa captain Rachel Corsie found herself unmarked by the penalty spot and powered a header past Roebuck to open the scoring, sending a healthy contingent of home supporters crazy behind the goal.
The visitors looked to respond instantly as they broke, but Villa keeper Hampton did well to get down to save a header from winger Hemp.
Headers were the way to go in the first half, and a headed goal is exactly what brought the visitors level, as a quick break from Hemp down the left wing gave her the space to cross a ball into the middle of the Villa box with Deyna Castellanos waiting patiently to head into the top corner.
The visitors should have taken the lead just before the half time whistle but Shaw was unable to get her head on the end of Chloe Kelly's free kick, meaning the sides went in level at the break.
The Citizens started the second half the brightest with a cross from Yui Hasegawa hitting the bar just moments after Khadia Shaw was denied on the line by a defender.
Hanson still caused the Manchester outfit's defence trouble as she was doing so in the first half and showed some skills to get into the area before shooting into the side netting.
Chances kept coming Shaw's way as the hosts started to tire midway through the second half but the striker couldn't beat Hampton with a low driven effort.
As time went on, gaps continued to defence and the away side broke well and quickly from a Villa attack. Chloe Kelly freed Shaw in the penalty box but her angle was too tight and a curler went out for a throw in on the other side of the pitch.
The Kelly-Shaw combination was showing again minutes later as the winger's cross was headed just wide by the striker, unable to generate the power she would have wanted on it.
Villa's defence took a big collective sigh of relief as a lapse in concentration allowed Kelly in and, with only Hampton to beat, the winger fired wide of the target.
Hannah Hampton got down low to save from Angeldahl before collecting a header from the Swede as City continued to mount pressure on the West Midlands outfit's back line.
Into added time at the end of the game, Jordan Nobbs couldn't keep her effort from distance on target after a corner won by substitute Alisha Lehmann was half cleared.
With the last touch of the game, Corsie almost had a second from a well worked free kick but her header dropped just wide meaning that the sides would have to go through dreaded extra time.
Contrary to the start of play in both the first and the second half, Villa started the brightest this time and were rewarded. A free kick was met by a header and well saved but Rachel Daly was almost jogging on the spot to be able to prod in at the back post to restore the hosts' lead.
Chloe Kelly looked to spark life back into the visitors with a stinging effort that was met by the grateful hands of Hampton. As the half time whistle was getting closer, the winger saw a shot blocked into the side netting as her side pushed for an equaliser.
The main feature of the second half of extra time was crunching tackles and injuries with most in attendance at the Bescot nervously watching the clock knowing that several minutes of added time would likely have to be played out.
They did see the six minutes added through however, to make sure that the Claret and Blue Army progressed into the semi-finals of the Cup.
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Player of the match
Kirsty Hanson (Aston Villa)
With her side progressing into the next round, the Villa left winger posted a threat for the visiting defence whenever she was on the ball. Her wing play allowed Daly to get in the right places and City's right hand side couldn't handle her.