Aston Villa Seduced by Crystal Palace's FA Cup Love Story

Here's the story: Crystal Palace are in administration, they are being forced to sell all of their top assets, their players and staff are not getting paid, and they desperately need money to keep the club alive.

On Sunday, 14 February, they played a fifth round tie at home with a sell-out crowd in the greatest domestic cup competition in the world, playing against one of England's best teams.

It was Valentine's Day, it was an FA Cup match, and it was the most important game in the club's season; if they won or got a draw, they'd get the money they so desperately required to stay well and truly alive as a football club supported by tens of thousands of fans.

The match was broadcast live to the nation and millions across the world, and the script was written. Everyone was watching, waiting to be inspired by the magic and romance of the FA Cup.

For the opponents of championship side Crystal Palace, Aston Villa were in no position to accept this love story and go along with the script.

They are a Premier League team playing against weaker opposition, they have the best chance they'll have in a long time to win this competition, they have a Carling Cup final against Manchester United they need to prepare for, and they need all the rest and preparation time they can get in the league and the race for the fourth UEFA Champions League place.

Aston Villa simply could not go along with the script. It would severely dash their chances of winning the FA Cup, Carling Cup, and the fourth UEFA Champions League place.

But what does the team of Martin O'Neill do? They follow the script of course, by drawing 2-2 with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

For everyone connected with Crystal Palace, as well as every neutral football supporter out there, this is great news; the magic and romance of the FA Cup is alive and kicking, and Palace will get the money they need to survive.

What a beautiful Valentine's Day for some, eh? As for others, such as everyone connected with Aston Villa Football Club, it couldn't be worse.

Yes, they are still in the FA Cup, and that is very much a wonderful thing.

But they now face another game to prepare for, another game where they need to put in full effort and use up all of their psychological and physiological energy in order to earn the inevitably hard-fought victory.

And then to regroup just three days later for a cup final at one of the greatest stadia in football against one of the greatest teams on earth...it's a tough task to say the least.

Simply put, this FA Cup replay to be played at Villa Park as a result of the 2-2 draw in London will be a waste of energy.

Had the Aston Villa starting XI which took to the field on Sunday at Crystal Palace displayed the effort, determination, and winning desire that a Premier League club (and especially one of Villa's calibre) should have, then they would have strolled to a win against this weak club on its knees.

Instead, the Villans let themselves be pushed around by lower standard players, showing a complacent attitude which led them to be teetering on the brink of defeat.

Austrian defender Johannes Ertl made it 1-0 to Palace with a header from a Darren Ambrose corner on 24 minutes.

Aston Villa levelled the score soon after, as James Collins rose from a Stewart Downing corner to head past Julian Speroni.

Palace worked tirelessly throughout and did not let up in the second half, and they were rewarded as Ambrose gave them the lead once more with a stunning 36-yard free-kick that left America's greatest goalkeeper, Brad Friedel, helpless.

Although Villa rightly denied a "cupset" late on, when captain Stiliyan Petrov made it three goals from headers, latching onto a Downing corner with three minutes of the dramatic encounter remaining to make it 2-2.

A crowd of 20,486 witnessed the magic and romance of the FA Cup on Valentine's Day.

But more than anything, they witnessed a pathetic display of complacency and acceptance, as Aston Villa agreed to the script ITV had written for them.

For a Premier League club of their stature, going into the match they had all the technical quality, tactical awareness, and physical fitness required to win this match with ease.

So despite what commentators and pundits might've said, Aston Villa did not play well on Sunday.

They let themselves succumb to the grit, determination, and at times outright gamesmanship shown from Crystal Palace, deservedly receiving a detrimental and fatiguing FA Cup replay.

So, first-team players of Aston Villa FC, do you want to win in the 2010 Carling Cup Final?

And how about the FA Cup, want to win that?

And do you want to play in the Champions League next season?

Well if you play like you did on Sunday, forget it. You're just like the poor lads who get seduced by the Lady in the House of Love... and we all know what happened to them.