Djordje Petrovic Shines as Chelsea and Aston Villa Draw in FA Cup

Chelsea and Aston Villa played out a goalless draw in the fourth round of the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge on Friday night. Both teams had chances to win the game, but were denied by some excellent goalkeeping from Emi Martinez and Djordje Petrovic.

The hosts dominated possession and created more opportunities, but failed to find a way past Martinez, who made several crucial saves. The Argentine stopper denied Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer in the first half, and then kept out Palmer again after the break when he had pounced on a bad back-pass from Boubacar Kamara. Martinez also showed his bravery and agility to beat Conor Gallagher to another loose ball in the box.

Aston Villa were more clinical and dangerous on the counter-attack, but they also found Petrovic in fine form. The Serbian keeper, who has been impressive since joining Chelsea from Red Star Belgrade in the summer, made two superb stops in quick succession to deny Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash, who had both broken through on goal. Petrovic also tipped over a header from Youri Tielemans, who had earlier seen his goal ruled out by VAR for handball.

The result means that Chelsea and Aston Villa will have to face each other again in a replay at Villa Park, which will add to their congested fixture list. Chelsea are chasing a cup double, having reached the final of the Carabao Cup earlier this week, while Aston Villa are aiming to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2016.

Both managers praised the performance of their goalkeepers after the game, and admitted that they would have preferred to avoid a replay. Mauricio Pochettino, the Chelsea boss, said: “It was a tough game, both teams had chances to score, but the goalkeepers were amazing. Martinez was fantastic for them, and Petrovic was fantastic for us. He has been very consistent and reliable since he arrived, and he showed his quality again tonight. We are happy with him, but we are not happy with the draw. We wanted to win and go through, but now we have to play again.”

Unai Emery, the Aston Villa head coach, said: “We are proud of our performance, we defended well and we had some clear chances to score. We needed Martinez tonight, he saved us with some very good saves. He is a very important player for us, he gives us confidence and security. But we also have to congratulate Petrovic, he was very good too. He made some incredible saves, especially from Watkins and Cash. It was a very tight game, and we have to play again. It is not ideal, but we have to accept it and prepare for the next game.