A determined Everton side carved out a 3-1 win against Villa to keep dreams of Wembley alive for the blue half of Merseyside.
Everton welcomed Martin O'Neil's men to Goodison for what was easily the tie of the FA Cup 5th round between two of the Premier League's in form teams.
But while Villa arrived with a near full strength squad David Moyes' injury list went from bad to worse with the pre-match news that midfielder Leon Osman joined the ever-lengthening Goodison crocked list with a torn muscle in his side.
The fact that Everton have performed miracles with kids making up half the sqaud, the Toffee's also had even more desire to avenge the Villa smash-and-grab victory earlier in the season.
Understrength they might have been but Everton were a goal up with four minutes after a bright start which saw Villa concede two corners.
The first Mikel Arteta kick just skimmed of the head of Joleon Lescott but the second found the head of Tim Cahill who looked to have buried it past Brad Friedel.
The Aussie however had not banked on Petrov cleverly handling the ball off the line out of the view of the officials but it was only a temporary reprieve as the clearance fell to 17-year-old Jack Rodwell who slammed the ball into the roof of net making him the youngest Everton player ever to score in the competition.
It took only a few minutes later for Villa to level through a James Milner penalty after Tony Hibbert brought down Gabriel Agbonlahor inches inside Tim Howard's penalty area.
The US national keeper got down brilliantly to try and keep out Milner's spot kick but it somehow squirmed under his body and into the net to level the scores.
Milner's penalty was the first scored at Goodison in the FA Cup against Everton since a certain Bill Shankly netted a golden goal for Preston North End in 1946.
Everton, rather than letting their heads drop, kept pressing forward with Cahill and Anichebe in particular giving the Villa back four a torrid time.
The home side got their own penalty on 23 minutes when Steve Sidwell brought Anichebe down in the area after a sparkling run deep into Villa territory.
Arteta stepped up to send Friedel the wrong way and send Everton back into the lead.
Minutes later Dan Gosling went narrowly wide with a 25 yard blast as Everton refused to let up the pressure as Villa were made to look a far cry from the club challenging for a Champions League place.
The visitors began to change tack as Friedal started launching long balls up to big centre forward John Carew, a tactic that was beginning to pay dividends in the last 15 minutes of the half
Agbonlahor probably should have levelled just before the break when a pin point Ashley Young cross hit him on the shoulder where his head should have been.
The game was end to end stuff by now with both sides carving out opportunities and with Asley Young and Anichebe catching they eye for either side.
Everton started the second half pushing, prodding and probing Villa's defence as the Toffee's went looking for the goal that would seal their passage into the last eight.
James Milner was booked for an awful challenge on Leighton Baines as his frustration with his side's lack of rhythm started bubbling over.
Villa were still capable of rattling the the Blue's back four though, one incident saw Phil Neville having to clear for a corner as the ball pinged around the area evading both Jagielka and Lescott.
An inspired piece of keeping from Howard kept the cores level in the 60th minute as a James Milner cross found the foot of John Carew who shot from eight yards out looked to be heading for the bottom corner until the American launched himself across his goal and tipped it round the post.
That close shave though looked to spur Villa on as they upped the tempo to put Everton under some sustained pressure for the first time in the game.
It was Everton at the other end though who came closest as Friedel had to save smartly from a close range Cahill header.
Villa looked the fresher of the sides as the game entered the last twenty minutes as Everton failed to close men down as effectively as they had all game letting the visitors come close with a couple of close efforts.
Everton effectively secured victory with in the 75th minute which saw Tim Cahill start and finish a move that ended with the ball nestling in the back of Friedel's net.
The Aussie passed to Anichebe who crossed the ball to a waiting Gosling in the Villa area, however the youngster slipped as the ball sailed past him but Cahill had continued his initial run into the area and fired in from the back post to make it 3-1.
It was a deserved victory by Moyes' men and Martin O 'Neill could do little but congratulate his counterpart on the final whistle.
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