Villa beat Leicester to reach quarter-finals

New Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood watched from the stands as his side reached the FA Cup quarter-finals at the expense of Leicester City.

Leandro Bacuna’s curled strike put Villa ahead after a flat first half, before Scott Sinclair scored late on to seemingly secure the victory.

The home side’s nerve was tested after Andrej Kramaric grabbed one back for Leicester in injury-time.

But Villa held on to win the fifth-round tie.

Both clubs had endured a tumultuous week, with Leicester boss Nigel Pearson’s position having been the subject of speculation, and Villa parting company with Paul Lambert before hiring Tim Sherwood as new manager on Saturday.

With former Tottenham boss Sherwood watching on from the directors’ box, the home fans’ reaction to his presence was muted. The 28,098 attendance was well short of Villa Park’s 42,682 capacity, but there was a largely positive reaction to his appointment.

After Sherwood addressed his new side in the dressing room at the break, Villa responded positively.

In a flat opening half that reflected both sides’ poor Premier League form, bottom club Leicester’s Marcin Wasilewski clipped the post with a header from a Matty James corner, while 18th-placed Villa struggled to create clear openings.

Striker Christian Benteke was back in the starting line-up, but Villa looked toothless in attack and Leicester again came close when Shay Given made an exceptional save from Matty James’ fierce left-foot drive.

Benteke had the ball in the back of the net, only for his low strike to be correctly ruled out for offside, but Villa’s more direct approach almost paid instant dividends in the second half.

The volume of the home crowd’s support grew as Villa pressed for just their 16th goal of the season in all competitions. It was midfielder Bacuna who provided it, curling past Mark Schwarzer with his right foot from outside the box with just over 20 minutes to play.

Andreas Weimann had a goal ruled out for offside before Scott Sinclair’s scuffed finished was fumbled into the net by Leicester goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

The Foxes’ record signing Kramaric gave the away side hope of a replay with a powerful header late on but Villa held their nerve with a win that was deserved for their second-half showing alone.

Aston Villa caretaker manager Scott Marshall: “The game was great today, the boys produced a good performance. The most important thing was the energy and the togetherness was good.

“One or two will learn from [conceding late on] as well, but the determination was always there to see the game out.”

Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson: “The first 15 minutes, I don’t think we were very fluent with the ball but after that we did pretty well. In the second half, we just could not keep hold of the ball, it kept coming back at us.

“The reason we are having a frustrating season is because we don’t reproduce performances. All but one player was in the side who started against Arsenal, which was a good performance, and for today we did not do well enough for long periods.

“We have to make sure our performances are more consistent. That is what is more annoying. Players, when they are in the side, have to make sure they produce performances that make it difficult to make changes.”