Aston Villa 0, Chelsea 3: Mat Kendrick's FA Cup Semi Final Verdict

Apr 12 2010

SO there will be no silver lining for Martin O’Nearly and Aston Villa this season – but whether it will be replaced by a claret and blue cloud this summer instead remains to be seen.

The famous trophy Villa craved to provide tangible proof of their progress will once again be on somebody else’s mantelpiece. Their FA Cup-winning wilderness now extends to 53 years of hurt – and few of the exits since 1957 can have been as painful as this one.

Villa deserved much more than the 3-0 scoreline which flattered Chelsea and leaves the season hinging on a Champions League miracle over the final six games.

And the relentless, roof-raising support of the claret and blue faithful, who easily out-sang their rivals, certainly warranted more than another cruel anti-climax.

O’Neill must wish the twin towers were still standing because at least the unlucky Ulsterman would have somewhere to string up Howard Webb and Phil Dowd.

The manager’s mood has understandably been blacker than the referee’s uniforms after ‘‘incontestable’’ decisions during Villa’s last two visits to Wembley.

Webb’s failures to award a penalty for John Obi Mikel’s blatant foul on Gabby Agbonlahor and to red-card John Terry for his lunge at James Milner were pivotal.

But there was more to this latest tale of Wembley woe than dodgy decision-making, such as Villa’s inability to get a shot on target and Chelsea’s clinical class, even on an off day. And, much as O’Neill was right to rant about the referee, the inquest into the injustices must not be used as a smokescreen to divert attention from the fact Villa aren’t quite good enough – yet.

While O’Neill felt his critics put the boot in harder than John Terry on James Milner after the 7-1 drubbing at Stamford Bridge two weeks earlier, the Villa boss deserves nothing but sympathy now.

O’Neill had a dilemma whether to adopt a bold approach and risk another rout or be cautious and risk a repeat of Villa’s forgettable 2000 final defeat to Chelsea. The manager seemed to get his tactics spot on for two thirds of the tie.

Had Villa capitalised on their first half dominance with the goal, fortune and justice they deserved then it could have been different.

But their luck has run out at Wembley, where not only have they faced Manchester United and Chelsea but also Webb and Dowd.