Carew fires Villa into FA Cup sem-finals

Aston Villa produced an incredible comeback as John Carew’s hat-trick helped them into the FA Cup semi-finals after a 4-2 win at Reading on Sunday.

Martin O’Neill’s men looked in trouble in the first half at the Madejski Stadium as Republic of Ireland international Shane Long pushed Reading into a two-goal lead.

But Ashley Young found the net on 47 minutes and Carew then followed up by netting twice in quick succession to help Villa back to Wembley. He added a third from the penalty spot in the 90th minute to seal a remarkable revival.

Championship outfit Reading sit just four points above the relegation zone in their division, yet had produced upsets against Liverpool and Burnley in previous rounds and held no fears ahead of this tie.

They took the game to their visitors in the opening stages and had the ball in the net after ten minutes when Jimmy Kebe fired home, but referee Mike Dean had already blown his whistle for an Aston Villa free kick.

Villa’s James Milner had an opportunity to test Reading’s Australian goalkeeper Adam Federici on 22 minutes. The ball fell to the England midfielder just outside the area, but he failed to keep his shot down.

By now the game was beginning to pick up pace, and after Reading midfielder Jay Tabb had a volley deflected over, the home side took the lead.

The resulting corner was swung in by Brian Howard, defender Matthew Mills headed towards goal, and Long got the final touch to divert beyond the grasp of Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

Carew swept the ball home first time from Milner’s free-kick, but to the annoyance of the forward, Reading’s entire back line had stepped up in time and left him in an offside position.

It could have been two-nil to the Royals soon after, only for Richard Dunne to block a Brian Howard side-footed effort that seemed destined for the net.

Three minutes before the break Reading did double their lead, and it arrived in slick fashion.

Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson fed Kebe down the right flank, and after racing away from his marker, the winger pulled back a cross for Long to slot past Friedel.

Villa were booed off by their supporters at the break and there will surely have been a dressing room inquest during the interval as poor marking led to both Long’s goals.

But, within two minutes of the restart Villa were back in the game.

Following an error from Ryan Bertrand, Carew chipped the ball across the box, Carlos Cuellar’s miscued effort nudged into the path of Young who made no mistake.

Then on 51 minutes Villa were level. Stewart Downing cut inside Bertrand on the right side of the penalty area, delivered a perfect cross and Carew steered a header into bottom corner.

It was an astonishing turnaround and there was a further twist to come as Carew scored his second on 57 minutes.

Stephen Warnock worked brilliantly down the left flank to deliver a centre, and the towering forward delivered a superb flick into the far corner.

Ivar Ingimarsson thought he had found an equalising goal, only for Young to head his effort off the line. And any late hopes of salvaging a replay disappeared in the final minute.

Ingimarsson brought down Carew, who stepped up to fire the penalty into the net and ensure Villa will be in the semi-finals for the first time in ten years.