FA CUP QUARTER-FINAL : PRESTON NORTH END VS ASTON VILLA – 30/03/2025 (PHOTO – MARCUS RASHFORD AND ASTON VILLA CELEBRATE)

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SUNNY AFTERNOON IT WAS FOR THE MATCH BETWEEN PRESTON NORTH END VS ASTON VILLA TODAY! AND WHAT A SUPERB TIME FOR MARCUS RASHFORD TO SHOW YET AGAIN JUST WHAT HE’S MADE OF! SCORING 2 BEAUTIFUL GOALS AT 58 MINS., AND THEN 63 MINS. (THE LATTER, FROM AN EXPERTLY TAKEN “DOUBLE-BLUFF / STUTTER” STYLE PENALTY) – AN EXTREMELY CONFIDENT LOOKING RASHFORD ONCE AGAIN ‘CAME INTO HIS OWN’, AND WITH A 3RD GOAL FROM HIS TEAM-MATE JACOB RAMSEY AT 71 MINS., ASTON VILLA WERE ABLE TO SHOW OFF THEIR WORLD CLASS SKILLS TO THEIR HAPPY TRAVELLING FANS! (WHO HAD BEEN A TAD DISCONCERTED EARLIER BY THE AMOUNTS OF BALLOONS WHICH FELL ON THE PITCH!)

PRESTON TRIED THEIR VERY BEST, MAKING 212 PASSES, WITH A 70% PASS ACCURACY, AND HAD 4 SHOTS, WITH 1 ON TARGET, BUT IT WASN’T TO BE THEIR DAY TODAY, AND WITH NOTHING REACHING-THE-BACK-OF-THE-NET, THE MATCH ENDED IN A 3 – 0 WIN TO ASTON VILLA AND SEALING THEIR PLACE IN THE SEMI-FINALS OF THE FA CUP AT WEMBLEY, THEREBY, KEEPING THEM IN THE RUNNING TO LIFT THEIR FIRST MAJOR TROPHY SINCE THE LEAGUE CUP IN 1996!

MARCUS RASHFORD EARNED THE EMIRATES ‘MAN OF THE MATCH’ TITLE!