Jonty Banks

Tue 10 January 2023 14:45, UK

Unai Emery’s Aston Villa capitulated against Stevenage in the third round of the FA Cup (Sunday 8 January), and it was quite something to watch.

Leading 1-0 with five minutes to play, the Spaniard’s side inexplicably fell at the final hurdle and allowed their League 2 opponents to run riot at Villa Park. An 88th-minute penalty from Jamie Reid levelled proceedings before Dean Campbell smashed home the winner at Robs Olsen’s near post in added time.

This dismal display is up there among the worst Aston Villa cup defeats, but below are a few more to grind your gears that bit more.

Bradford City – Capital One Cup semi-final (2013)

What an opportunity this was for Aston Villa to claim some silverware.

After a horrible season in the Premier League, in which they fell on the verge of relegation, their misery was compounded by an embarrassing two-legged defeat to Bradford City in the Capital One Cup semi-final.

If Paul Lambert’s side had managed to defeat their League Two minnows, a Wembley date against Swansea City would await and a cracking chance of an unexpected trophy.

However, this wasn’t the case. After falling to a 3-1 defeat in the opening leg of the tie, Villa needed to win by at least two goals to keep their championship hopes alive. They looked to be on their way when Christian Benteke netted after just 24 minutes of the second leg.

The Bantams, however, crushed Villa’s dreams after the break when James Hanson headed home to draw the side level. Substitute Andreas Weimann scored in the 89th minute, but his effort couldn’t save the West Midlands side from a damning defeat.

Arsenal – FA Cup final (2015)

Aston Villa’s 4-0 defeat to the Gunners in the FA Cup final in 2015 was predicted by many, but the manner of it left a sour taste in the mouth for fans at Wembley that day.

Arsene Wenger’s side barely had to leave third gear as they brushed Villa aside in a display of footballing brilliance, but Tim Sherwood’s Villans were a shadow of the team who defeated Liverpool in the semi-final.

At least those travelling fans at Wembley Stadium saw one of those ‘I was there moments’ as Alexis Sanchez defied physics to smash home his second goal of the game and Arsenal’s fourth.

Yes, Villa weren’t the bookies favourites, but you would have thought they were 100/1 outsiders by the way they played.

Swansea City – FA Cup third-round (2019)

Nothing went right for Aston Villa in their 3-0 defeat to Swansea in 2019, as they extended their winless run in the competition to three years.

For a Dean Smith side which was flying in the Championship and had beaten the Swans in the league a few weeks prior, this performance brought the Villans back down to reality.

Without centre-forward Tammy Abraham, Villa looked devoid of attacking creativity and fell behind when Courtney Baker-Richardson netted after just two minutes.

Nathan Dyer doubled the lead just before the half before Jay Fulton put the cherry on the cake with a late third.

Then-Swans boss Graham Potter got the better or Smith that day, and no wonder, considering the likes of Scott Hogan, Tommy Elphick, and Lovre Kalinic were donning the claret and blue shirt from the off.

In other Aston Villa news, Dan Bardell has had his say on the investment in the facilities at the club.