Delph and Delfouneso Shine in Aston Villa's FA Cup Win Over Brighton

Aston Villa continued their week of superb cup action with a 3-2 win over League One club Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup fourth round match at Villa Park on Saturday.

The result comes after Villa dispatched Premier League rivals Blackburn Rovers 7-4 on aggregate to book a date with Wembley and a place in the 2010 Carling Cup Final.

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Martin O'Neill's Villans were quick out of the blocks, and scored within just five minutes, as England U-19 starlet Nathan Delfouneso was the first to react when turning home Marc Albrighton's cross from the right.

His near post flick showed great anticipation, as well as decent finishing, and became a sign of things to come as the young talent impressed throughout the match, despite not scoring another.

Villa failed to build on their early advantage, however, and Brighton hit back before the break with Tommy Elphick making the most of poor defending.

The hosts started the second half like they started the first, with stand-in captain Ashley Young heading home Stewart Downing's ball to restore their lead.

And O'Neill 's men ensured there would be no second comeback when the impressive Fabian Delph scored his first goal for Villa, to give them a comfortable two-goal cushion.

A James Milner through ball sent Delph racing clear of the Brighton defence and he beat the dive of keeper Michel Kuipers with an angled shot into the corner of the net.

The 20-year-old shone throughout in the encounter at Villa Park , and as the Aston Villa official club website put it, "[He] was an all action hero as he bossed the central ground with a superb range of passing as well as his usual bite in the tackle—and he even popped up with a brilliant goal too."

Visitors Brighton did set up a somewhat nervy injury-time for the home side when veteran Nicky Forster scored late on, but it proved to be nothing more than a mere consolation.

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Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill was pleased his side survived a scare in their FA Cup win over Brighton.

O'Neill admitted the loss of Marc Albrighton to injury early on disrupted their game, but was pleased they upped their tempo in the second half.

"We obviously started off brilliantly," said O'Neill. "We got the goal early on. Marc Albrighton going off early forced us into bringing James Milner  on earlier than we'd have hoped for.

"As it turns out we probably needed him. Brighton really came into the game the last 20 minutes before half time. I think on the balance of play they deserved their equaliser. We had a scare a moment or two before that.

"I think we really had to up the pace in the second half, which I think we did. It's not unusual here to be hanging on by your fingertips at the end. I'm pleased to have won."

Brighton manager Gus Poyet took a risk with his side, coming to Villa Park and playing against one of England's best teams with an attacking set up.

Speaking of his tactics, Poyet explained, "People who know me, like the people from Brighton, know I'm not going to just defend and be boring. Some people will say that we took unnecessary risks as we conceded two goals on the break.

"I think that's the positive part. We came here to entertain. We did it, especially in the first half. I think we showed everyone that to a point we can compete with better players."

Source: SkySports