Chelsea and Aston Villa head for FA Cup replay after stalemate

Chelsea and Aston Villa are set to face each other again in a replay at Villa Park for the FA Cup fourth round. Despite an entertaining match in the capital that ended goalless, Unai Emery's team is still waiting for their first victory against Chelsea in this competition since 1960.

Chelsea, who have already secured a spot in the League Cup final at Wembley in February, had a close call in this competition when Douglas Luiz accidentally deflected Moussa Diaby's shot into the net early in the game. However, VAR intervened and ruled it out due to a handball by the Brazilian.

In response, Chelsea put pressure on Villa's goalkeeper, Emiliano Martínez, who made a series of impressive saves. One notable save came when Cole Palmer had a chance after a mistake from Clément Lenglet.

This pattern continued throughout the first half, leaving the Stamford Bridge crowd astonished when Noni Madueke failed to score from a close-range opportunity created by Palmer.

Villa struggled to break through Chelsea's high press, and Benoît Badiashile's inability to score with his head added to their wastefulness in front of goal. Mauricio Pochettino's team aimed for their sixth win in their last seven competitive matches.

The second half started with an intense pace, and Palmer once again found himself involved in the action, but his volley missed the target.

Despite the strong support from the 6,000 away fans at the Shed End, Villa gradually found their footing in the game.

With the home team fatigued from playing just three days ago, Aston Villa saw an opening to secure victory in the last 20 minutes. Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash put pressure on Đorđe Petrović, forcing him into action, while Ezri Konsa narrowly missed a chance to score before the end of regular time.

Chelsea faced mounting pressure throughout the match and were constantly on the defensive until the final whistle. Similar to the first half, they managed to hold on.

As a result, both teams will meet again in Birmingham next month. Aston Villa aims to capitalize on their successful season and advance to the fifth round, a feat they haven't achieved since being FA Cup runners-up in 2015.