Preston 0-3 Aston Villa: Rashford off the mark as visitors book Wembley ticket
A Marcus Rashford brace and a fine strike from Jacob Ramsey helped Aston Villa book their FA Cup semi-final spot with a 3-0 win at Deepdale.
Marcus Rashford scored his first two Aston Villa goals as they cruised into the FA Cup semi-finals with a 3-0 win over Preston North End, with all three goals coming after half-time.
Rashford netted twice in the space of five minutes early in the second half to halt his run of nine matches without a goal since arriving on loan from Manchester United.
That brace settled Villa's nerves after a flat first-half performance, and a brilliant run and finish from Jacob Ramsey put the icing on the cake as Unai Emery's men stamped their ticket to Wembley.
They will fancy their chances of lifting the FA Cup for the first time since 1957, having joined Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest in the last four.
Either Bournemouth or Manchester City will seal the final spot in the semi-finals later on Sunday.
Villa looked unsettled by Preston's high press early on and struggled to create major opportunities. Rashford failed to trouble David Cornell with two free-kicks, while Ezri Konsa was unable to make a proper connection with a back-post header after escaping his marker.
It was Preston who created the best opening of the first half, but Stefan Thordarson headed wide when he might have been better served leaving the ball for Will Keane behind him.
The hosts were made to rue that miss when Villa went ahead shortly before the hour-mark, Rashford side-footing home after being found by Lucas Digne at the end of a rapid counterattack.
With Villa's tails up, Morgan Rogers had a shot cleared off the line just a minute later, then the England international drew a clumsy challenge from Andrew Hughes inside the area, and Rashford coolly slotted home from 12 yards.
With Preston tiring, Villa added some gloss to the scoreline in the 73rd minute as Ramsey advanced to the edge of the box and lashed beyond Cornell, and he went close to grabbing a brace of his own with a low drive in the final minute.
Data debrief: Rashford the cup hero
Prior to Sunday, Rashford had produced a series of promising performances for Villa without getting on the scoresheet, but the cup competitions seem to bring out the best in him.
Since making his FA Cup debut in March 2016, Rashford has scored 27 goals across the two domestic cup competitions (FA Cup and EFL Cup) – more than any other player.
He also now has five goals in FA Cup quarter-finals, overtaking Romelu Lukaku (four) for the most since his competition debut nine years ago.
Rashford finished this game with five shots and three chances created.
He has had at least five shots and at least three chances created in two of his 10 games for Villa, as many times as he managed to do so across his final 113 outings for United.