Unai Emery could not have made himself clearer.
With 1957 being the last time they won the competition, the Villa manager was well aware of how “important” the FA Cup was to the club’s supporters, but stressed “we have a clear order in our priorities”.
“As I always said, the Premier League is the most important competition,” he wrote in his programme notes before the Newcastle defeat.
Perhaps, then, it was not a surprise Emery made seven changes to his side for this game – one more than Newcastle – and handed Ross Barkley and Leon Bailey – recalled from his loan at Roma – their first starts of the season.
Yet his much-changed side were well-placed to progress until Marco Bizot’s rush of blood, and Emery will still take positives from aspects of this display.
Not least Abraham’s first goal since his return.
Although he was offside, his strike followed a clever set-piece routine after Morgan Rogers shaped up to shoot only for Luiz to clip the ball into the box for Tammy Abraham to chest down and fire into the net.
How Emery will hope it is the first of many to ease the burden on fellow centre-forward Ollie Watkins.
Villa may have exited the FA Cup, but Emery’s team can still end their 30-year wait for a major trophy in the Europa League and are third in the Premier League, with a place in next season’s Champions League the target.
It is all set up to be a season to remember.
