Football writer Dan Edwards analyses Friday's and Saturday's FA Cup fifth-round matches.
Aston Villa 2-0 Cardiff City
Given this was Aston Villa’s fifth game in the space of 14 days, many were expecting Unai Emery to ring the changes for the visit of Cardiff City, but although the industrious Morgan Rogers was finally afforded a well-deserved rest on the bench, the Spaniard took no risks with a strong Villa line-up on show.
It was this top-level talent that was ultimately too much for Cardiff to withstand, with a second-half double from Marco Asensio the difference between the sides. If this sounds familiar, it’s likely because the same man scored twice in the second half of Villa’s defeat of Chelsea last weekend.
Asensio, who joined on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in the winter transfer window, has Marcus Rashford to thank for much of his output, with three of his four goals for Villa being assisted by his fellow new arrival.
Rashford has been offered the opportunity to resurrect his career after a wearisome time under the spotlight at Manchester United, and he looks to be benefitting from the move. The forward created six chances against Cardiff, which equals his career-high for his parent club, for whom he has played 426 games.
The result was kind to Cardiff in the end, with Ollie Watkins and Rashford missing two big chances apiece. Emery will be hoping his side can maintain this level of attacking verve when they visit Club Brugge in their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 first leg on Tuesday night.
See: Aston Villa report
Crystal Palace 3-1 Millwall
Crystal Palace booked their quarter-final spot by beating 10-man Millwall 3-1 at Selhurst Park, but the victory was marred by a concerning injury to Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Millwall were reduced to 10 men after only eight minutes, with goalkeeper Liam Roberts shown a straight red card after a collision with Mateta outside the penalty area, which saw the in-form Frenchman taken off on a stretcher after a lengthy stoppage.
After the match, head coach Oliver Glasner revealed that Mateta looks set to miss the Eagles' Premier League home match against Ipswich Town next Saturday.
Palace went ahead somewhat fortunately after former Tottenham Hotspur defender Japhet Tanganga headed into his own net just after the half-hour mark, with Daniel Munoz giving them a two-goal advantage shortly afterwards. Munoz has now scored or assisted in six of his last seven games in all competitions.
Wes Harding gave Millwall a lifeline after scoring in the 14th minute of first-half stoppage time, with his strike taking a deflection off Ben Chilwell, who was making his first start of the season in all competitions after joining on loan from Chelsea on Deadline Day, before going in.
After a slow start to the second half for the hosts, Eddie Nketiah, on for the injured Mateta, put the tie to bed with a looping header with 10 minutes to go.
Nketiah has now scored in back-to-back games; Palace will need this run to continue should Mateta be forced to miss any time.
AFC Bournemouth 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (5-4 on penalties)
Bournemouth made amends for defeat in this exact fixture in the Premier League last weekend with a victory on penalties over Wolverhampton Wanderers in a marathon match that included a straight red card for Matheus Cunha.
Both sides were close to full strength, with Bournemouth’s Justin Kluivert the most notable absentee from the two starting line-ups; Illia Zabarnyi served the second match of his three-game suspension, while Dango Ouattara was benched, with the fit-again Evanilson picked up front.
The Brazilian forward showed no signs of sluggishness as he reacted sharply to a fine Sam Johnstone save from a strong Antoine Semenyo strike, calmly sliding the ball into the back of the net with his left foot.
Cunha levelled proceedings with a spectacular long-range effort on the hour-mark, finding the top-right corner with a swerving strike. It was his sixth goal from outside the box this season, at least two more than any other Premier League player, while the goal took him to 15 for the season in all competitions, surpassing his tally from the previous campaign.
Thanks to some missed chances from Bournemouth and a number of saves from Johnstone, the game eventually went to extra-time and then penalties, but not before Cunha was sent off in the 120th minute after tempers were raised in a clash with Milos Kerkez. This means the Brazilian, who has already served a two-match ban this season for misconduct, is set to be suspended for some crucial matches.
Wolves' next five PL matches
Luis Sinisterra converted the winning penalty for Bournemouth at 17:57 GMT, almost three hours after the game had kicked off.
See: Bournemouth report | Wolves report
Preston 3-0 Burnley
A run of nine consecutive clean sheets and 23 games without defeat finally came to an end for Championship side Burnley, as Preston reached the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1966.
Burnley were unbeaten since a defeat to Millwall at the start of November and hadn’t conceded a goal since an FA Cup victory against Reading in January.
It was Robbie Brady, who spent five seasons in the Premier League with Burnley between 2016 and 2021, who put Preston ahead with a wonderful free-kick, before Milutin Osmajic added a second just before half-time. Those two goals meant Burnley had conceded more in the first half of this game (two) than the one in their previous 14 matches across all competitions combined.
Will Keane finished off a well-constructed team move to put the game to bed in the second half, with Burnley conceding three goals in a match for the first time since May 2024 against Newcastle United.
NFL fans will be pleased to hear that these concessions had no impact on the agreement between goalkeeper James Trafford and Burnley co-owner J.J. Watt, who promised to resume his NFL career should Trafford avoid conceding another goal this season. Trafford was rested for this match, and his incredible run of 12 clean sheets in a row remains alive and well.
Manchester City 3-1 Plymouth Argyle
Two headers from Academy graduate Nico O’Reilly spared Manchester City’s and Pep Guardiola’s blushes as Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle once again caused problems for top Premier League opposition.
Guardiola made 11 changes after the win at Spurs in midweek, with Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden returning to the XI. With Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush on the bench, it was Foden and James McAtee who took up central positions for the hosts.
City had some half-chances early on, with an Ilkay Gundogan shot hitting a post, but it was the visitors, currently 23rd in the Championship, who took the lead after 38 minutes, Maksym Talovierov rising high to head home from a corner. It proved to be their only shot of the game.
Plymouth’s lead didn’t last long, with teenager O’Reilly converting from a De Bruyne set-piece right at the end of the first half, and with the introduction of Erling Haaland during the second half, the hosts went closer and closer until O’Reilly rose up once again to head home from another set-piece.
De Bruyne completed the win late on and continued his fine record in the FA Cup - since his debut in the competition in January 2016, no player has been involved in more FA Cup goals (first round onwards) than the Belgian (28 – 10 goals and 18 assists).
Man City can’t seem to complete a match without losing a defender to injury – Nathan Ake was seen limping at half-time and was replaced by Ruben Dias; though there was some real ability displayed by newcomer Vitor Reis, who won nine aerial duels, more than twice as many as any other player in the match.
Guardiola will be thankful to have a full week of training before a trip to Nottingham Forest next Saturday, while the Man City manager revealed after the match that Rodri could return to action before the end of the season.
"He looks good," said Guardiola. "He's not close to coming back, but maybe before the end of the season, in the Premier League, maybe he is going to help us."
See: Man City report
Which other Premier League clubs are in fifth-round action?
Sunday 2 March
13:45 Newcastle United v Brighton & Hove Albion
16:30 Manchester United v Fulham
Monday 3 March
19:30 Nottingham Forest v Ipswich Town
When is the quarter-final draw?
Teams will discover their fate in the FA Cup quarter-finals when the draw takes place from 18:30 GMT on Sunday 2 March.
The quarter-finals are scheduled to be held on the weekend of 29-30 March, after Matchweek 29 and before Matchweek 30 in the Premier League.