The sprinkle of smartphone lights waved through the air across the stands of the Riverside Stadium suggested a special night in the making as the clock ticked down. Middlesbrough never really looked quite like forcing a shock win over high-flying Aston Villa but the fact that squeezing out a draw would have felt like an achievement, when it would have been just a solid Premier League result in years gone by, says a lot for the Birmingham club’s current stature.
Matty Cash’s late winner, a shot from range wickedly deflected home off the substitute Emmanuel Latte Lath, also spoke of Villa’s pomp. It had the scent of a big side finding a way to get it done, someway, somehow, when Unai Emery’s team selection had suggested a dilemma in how to approach a tricky tie – in a round that had become a bugbear for a club with such history in the competition, with this Villa’s first progression from the third round since 2016 – and increasing weekly demands.
