ASTON VILLA LEFT it late to see off Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 and secure their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
After Joe Jacobson’s penalty earned the League Two outfit a credible draw at Adams Park 10 days ago, Villa looked like they were heading for extra time in the replay as they struggled to break down their opponents, who had twice gone close through Garry Thompson.
Ciaran Clark came up with the goods for the Premier League side, however, as he headed in Ashley Westwood’s cross 15 minutes from time, before a fine goal from Idrissa Gueye settled the contest to book a tie with Manchester City in the next round.
Nevertheless, Gareth Ainsworth’s Wycombe can take plenty of positives from their return to Villa Park, 15 years after going down 2-1 to Liverpool in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, West Brom booked their place in the next round with a routine 1-0 replay win at Bristol City.
Championship strugglers City were left to rue missed chances by Wes Burns, Luke Freeman and Aaron Wilbraham, with Salomon Rondon scoring the game’s only goal shortly after half-time, converting a cross from Craig Dawson with a classy touch and finish.
Premier League outfit West Brom had not won away since October but closed the match out easily to book a home fourth-round tie with League One side Peterborough United.
Elsewhere, Bolton survived a major scare to eventually squeeze past non-league Eastleigh Town while MK Dons, Portsmouth and Reading all advanced.
Tuesday’s FA Cup third round replay results:
- Aston Villa 2-0 Wycombe
- Bradford 0-0 Bury (Bury win 4-2 on penalties)
- Bristol City 0-1 West Brom
- MK Dons 3-0 Northampton
- Portsmouth 2-1 Ipswich
- Yeovil 1-1 Carlisle (Carlisle win 5-4 on penalties)
- Bolton 3-2 Eastleigh
- Reading 5-2 Huddersfield
