Who said the FA Cup was becoming an irrelevance? After five invigorating ties on Saturday produced five winners, Villa Park yesterday hosted a sixth decisive encounter in which that clean dramatic sequence was extended.
A hat-trick from Aston Villa's Benito Carbone was the headline reason for that, but there were many other significant contributors in a feisty match that got better and better.
Superior passing football will be staged many times elsewhere this season, but this was a quintessential FA Cup occasion. Guts and blood are called for on such days and the latter was spilt, literally, by Paul Merson in the pursuit and creation of Carbone's third and winning goal.
After Villa had twice equalised goals from Ian Harte and Eirik Bakke, and the roar swelling from the Holte End suggested a rising confidence among the faithful that Villa could go on and secure what previously had looked a fairly unlikely victory. Nevertheless, when Merson collected the dregs of Villa's latest attack there seemed little alternative to a speculative shot from distance. But Merson, clearly buoyed by his recent good form, had another, rather more extravagant idea.
It began with a slick chip over Jonathan Woodgate; Merson then surged past him and into the area where he met the bouncing ball a fraction before Gary Kelly. That touch carried Merson to the byline where the considerable frame of Michael Duberry was zooming towards him. The ball was still bouncing at shoulder height; both men went for it bravely. Merson got their first, the ball flashed across the six yard box and Carbone nodded it beyond Nigel Martyn. It was an exceptional goal.
While Carbone and the crowd celebrated, however, Merson and Duberry were left on the floor clutching their heads. Merson came off worst, blood seeping down his face as, dazed, he tried to stand up and continue. An ambulance was called for immediately, but John Gregory said later that Merson was "all right. He's got a headache. It was quite a mess. I don't think he realised how bad it was."
Gregory also had words of appreciation for his emotionally turbulent inside forward's skill, and it is Merson's brio, added to Carbone's predatory instinct, that has Villa in the quarterfinals with a winnable tie against Everton at Goodison Park.
Before then, Villa meet Leicester in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final at Filbert Street on Wednesday night. Their season is blossoming just at the time last year that it began to wither. They are unbeaten in 11 games now.
At various stages yesterday that did not appear a statement it would be possible to make. In a scrappy opening Leeds started slightly more convincingly and there was no great surprise when they took the lead after 13 minutes, except for the fact that Harte again scored with his right foot.
Harte's seventh of the season came from a Stephen McPhail corner won by Bakke's head, and a poor attempt at a clearance by Gareth Southgate. Harte swung his boot from the 18 yard line. The ball settled in the bottom corner, though Gregory claimed that Harry Kewell was in an offside position.
It took Villa just past the half hour to equalise. In its own way it was as untidy as Harte's goal, Steve Watson supplying a header to Gareth Barry's free-kick and the Leeds defence failing to cover. Carbone was able to shoot with little difficulty.
But Leeds were still comfortable despite that interruption, and six minutes before the interval McPhail's beautiful curling cross was met by the charging Bakke. It felt as though Leeds would go on and win it from there.
As Gregory said: "We gave Leeds too much respect in the first half. We were second to the ball. We just had to get into their boots in the second half and impose ourselves on them."
Prompted by the tackling of George Boateng, Villa, in David O'Leary's phrase, "got the momentum". Still, when Carbone picked up a loose ball 35 yards from Martyn's goal-line on the hour, there was nothing predictable about his next deed. Assessing that Martyn was a tempting distance off his line, Carbone delivered a swooping shot that took Martyn's breath away and the ball into the net.
"It's been overdue," said Gregory of Carbone's contribution. "I am pleased for him because that will give him the lift he needs.
"He has been disappointing in the last few weeks.
"But by his own admission he has been very disappointed with the way he has played recently. But he has kept battling away and he has got the goals to back up his performance today."
Not so long ago Gregory might have made a similar remark about Merson, but he is thriving again and was to produce a reminder of the sublime talent he showed so regularly at Highbury. Acknowledging that, O'Leary did not even try to quibble with the result. "They were worthy winners," he said.
Villa have beaten his side twice in a month and yesterday means Leeds's match against Manchester United is scheduled for Sunday morning, February 20th. That's FA Cup quarter-final weekend. And that's relevant.
Aston Villa: James, Ehiogu, Southgate, Barry, Watson (Delaney 45), Stone, Boateng, Merson (Hendrie 72), Wright, Joachim, Carbone. Subs Not Used: Thompson, Walker, Cutler. Booked: Carbone, Watson. Goals: Carbone 32, 58, 69.
Leeds: Martyn, Kelly, Duberry (Mills 70), Woodgate, Harte, Bowyer, Bakke (Huckerby 84), McPhail, Wilcox, Bridges (Smith 70), Kewell. Subs Not Used: Jones, Robinson. Booked: Bowyer, Wilcox. Goals: Harte 13, Bakke 38.
Referee: G Barber (Tring, Herts).
