Analysis of Villa 3 Brighton 2

Villa have already done it once – now they can do it again.

Having already booked one date for Wembley last week, Villa took another significant step in their quest to seal a second trip this season with victory over Brighton in Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round tie.

It now looks an even more real possibility, after a good weekend got even better yesterday afternoon.

First, Arsenal followed round-three victims Manchester United and Liverpool in crashing out of the competition – leaving Chelsea as the only remaining representative of the big four in the last 16.

With Tottenham facing a tricky replay at Leeds, Martin O'Neill's men have now been installed third favourites at 6/1 behind Carlo Ancelotti's Blues and Manchester City.

Their pairing away at either local rivals Wolves or Championship Crystal Palace gives them as good an opportunity as they could have hoped for of progressing into the quarter-finals, where Wembley would then be just two more rounds away.

Wednesday's semi-final success over Blackburn has certainly given supporters a taste for the big time again as Villa hunt their first major trophy since 1996 – and the scramble for seats started on Saturday.

Having pulled in 40,406 in midweek, this weekend's turnout of 39,725 was, on the face of it, staggering. But it wasn't simply the £10 tickets or chance to carry on the celebrations which had attracted fans.

For many, it was an opportunity to add what could prove to be a decisive game to their booking history when it comes to making the cut for a ticket for the February 28 final.

The cups have certainly proven a welcome distraction for Villa from their recent travails in the league – and the triumphs over Blackburn and Brighton are certain to have raised morale going into Wednesday's crunch league clash with Arsenal.

The fact bitter rivals Birmingham have moved within three points of Villa's won't have gone unnoticed by the claret and blue faithful and, if any further incentive were needed to kickstart their league form, then this should be it.

After bringing in six new faces on Saturday, O'Neill will be certain to make changes for the visit of the Gunners. But some of his young fringe players at least did their claims for more pitch-time no harm.

Nathan Delfouneso and Man of the Match Fabian Delph both outshone their more senior team-mates with excellent displays. Delph arrived in the summer hailed as one of the top prospects in the country and looked every inch a class act against the 1983 FA Cup finalists.

By his own admission, his levels of performance have "dropped a lot" since arriving in the Premier League but the refreshing honesty of the youngster's assessment of his short claret and blue career are a mark of the high standards he sets himself.

Don't be fooled. Villa have a real player on their hands and his second-half display – when he made the sorts of driving forward runs and snapping tackles we've become used to seeing from his fellow Yorkshireman James Milner – was as good as he's played since his excellent debut display against Fiorentina.

As for Delfouneso, the 18-year-old may lack the powerful physique of Gabby Agbonlahor and his link-up play can lack consistency, but he sure knows how to finish. O'Neill has been flooded with offers to take him on loan, but his refusal to do business indicates just how much he values him as part of his first team.

Much has been made of the need for the Villa boss to bring in an alternative to Agbonlahor, but Delfouneso's continuing development is one possible explanation for why he is yet to do so.

Delfouneso yet again demonstrated his unerring eye for goal with his fifth strike in seven starts for the claret and blues within five minutes of the start, sweeping home Marc Albrighton's cross. But you had to feel for Albrighton, who was injured in the build-up to the goal and soon had to be replaced by Milner.

Milner brought his usual tigerish ferocity to proceedings, but Villa failed to build on their early advantage and they paid the price when the League One outfit levelled four minutes before the break.

Villa's defence hardly covered themselves in glory as they failed to deal with a corner from ex-Wolves player Elliott Bennett, which fell perfectly for Tommy Elphick to squeeze a shot inside the right post.

At half-time, the tie looked finely-poised so the timing of Ashley Young's goal just three minutes after the restart could barely have been better. It was a real collector's item too, a header no less, as Young rose to head home Stewart Downing's centre in off the woodwork. From there it was Delph who really took centre stage.

The Yorkshire terrier looked odds-on to net his first claret and blue goal when Milner's arcing cross left him with just goalkeeper Michel Kuipers, to beat but the Seagulls stopper pulled off a stupendous reaction save before the ball was eventually cleared away. Soon he was to have his revenge, though.

Having being sent clean through by Milner, the England under-21 star appeared to complicate matters checking inside a Brighton defender. But Delph knew exactly what to do, drilling a low left-footed shot inside the right post with pinpoint precision.

The teenager could have had a second when Ashley Young drilled a delightful ball across the face of goal, which was agonisingly beyond his reach.

Luke Young's cutback looked set to be converted by Steve Sidwell after 83 minutes but it was inadvertently blocked by Delfouneso on the line, while three minutes later the England under-19 star saw a wonderful curling effort bounce back off the post.

The Seagulls then made for a highly uncomfortable three minutes of added time when veteran poacher Nicky Forster powered in from close range but Villa hung on.

By no means a classic performance, but those dreams of a second Wembley trip live on.

By Brendan McLoughlin