BBC 5 Live Breakfast

Aston Villa legend Ian Taylor, speaking to 5 Live Breakfast about the FA Cup semi-final draw: "I think the quarter-final draw was a really good one for us on paper. They're always difficult games, we know that, you have to have the right attitude for them and I think we did.

"Crystal Palace have proved to be a bit of a bogey side for us in the past. You ask any Villa fan, out of all the teams left in it they didn't want to face Crystal Palace. But it's a different proposition being at Wembley, we've got some good, experienced and hungry players. It's been a while, but I'm sure we will enjoy the occasion."

Michael Brown
Former Tottenham midfielder on the BBC Football Daily podcast

Whenever something went wrong at Manchester United, it was about Marcus Rashford being one of the highest earners at the club and not performing.

He needs to be in a structure and a team that does well. If we want to see the best of Rashford, we need a team that is performing really well, winning consistently and going through to the later stages of tournament like we hope to see from Aston Villa.

There's some big characters at the club as well. It's not all on him. It's very much a collective. He is in a good place.

Nigel Reo-Coker
Former West Ham midfielder on the BBC Football Daily podcast

Image source, Getty Images

If you had to pick an individual player for the story of the weekend, it would definitely be Marcus Rashford.

Everything he has been through and all the criticism that he has received since leaving Manchester United and joining Aston Villa, getting those two goals would've done him a world of good.

Sometimes it takes a run of games to get back that fitness, strength and belief in yourself, and he seems to be getting there.

It's nice to see him enjoying football, playing with a smile on his face and getting that confidence back.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

Aston Villa are one of the great names of English football. They are one of their most successful teams. But rarely in modern times, have they played like it.

Other that a brief spell under Martin O'Neill, since the very early days of the Premier League - they finished second in 1993 - Villa have struggled. They were relegated in 2016 and could easily have been again in 2020 when they survived courtesy Sheffield United not being given a goal at Villa Park when the ball had crossed the line.

The arrival of Unai Emery has changed the direction of the club.

Successive European campaigns - they play PSG in the Champions League quarter-finals next week - now an FA Cup semi-final, plus a chase for a top five spot.

Finally, the ambition of owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens is being matched in the dug-out.

Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart shares his perspective on the approaches a keeper can take to save a stuttering penalty run-up, following Marcus Rashford's composed finish for Aston Villa in the FA Cup against Preston North End.

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Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

Aston Villa have a £40m option to buy Rashford from Manchester United as part of the loan deal agreed between the two clubs in February.

Two goals against a Championship side is one thing, but Rashford's contribution to the Villa cause has been more extensive than that.

Since his Villa debut only Mohamed Salah (10), Bruno Fernandes (10) and Marco Asensio (7) among Premier League players have been involved in more goals than Rashford's six across all competitions.

Sources close to Rashford are adamant there has never been a confidence issue. However, his fitness has been a problem because he has played so infrequently - and often not for very long.

It will be fascinating to see how the situation unfolds. A Marcus Rashford on top form would be an asset to any team in the country.

Aston Villa forward Marcus Rashford speaking to BBC Sport: "It's a great feeling. It's always nice for a forward to get a goal, so hopefully it continues.

"I feel like I've been getting fitter and playing better football since I've been here. I missed a lot of football before joining up with them. My body feels good and I'm enjoying my football for now."

Image source, Getty Images

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter at Deepdale

The deal Man United struck with Aston Villa to let Marcus Rashford leave is not straightforward.

The precise nature of the loan deal is complicated. United have said 75% of Rashford's wages are being covered, although they have not explained exactly how.

That could rise to 90% if certain performance-related bonuses are met.

That, presumably, will include an extended run in the Champions League - Villa have been paired with French heavyweights Paris St-Germain in the quarter-finals - as well as the FA Cup.

That proliferation of targets underscores why Unai Emery did not really want to talk about the likelihood of Villa triggering their £40m option to turn Rashford's move into a permanent deal.

"We can't waste time speaking about that," he said "If next year we are in the Champions League, in the Europa, or Conference League or not. Or we don't win a trophy - it is completely different."

Here's how Marcus Rashford's quickfire double - his first goals since 1 December - put Villa in control and on the road to Wembley.

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Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter at Deepdale

Frozen out of the first-team picture at Manchester United by head coach Ruben Amorim just weeks after he replaced Erik ten Hag at the helm, even those closest to Marcus Rashford accepted he had a major point to prove when he completed his loan move to Aston Villa on 3 February.

Those working with him can see the improvement in Rashford, maybe not quite to the levels of old but certainly a far cry from the passive figure he appeared at Old Trafford for most of the previous 18 months.

Yet there were plenty of doubters. They were out in force on social media during the first half of Villa's 3-0 FA Cup quarter-final victory at Preston, as Rashford wasted a couple of free-kicks as the visitors struggled to turn their dominance into goals.

But when Lucas Digne presented the opportunity 13 minutes into the second half at Deepdale, Rashford's innate ability did the rest as he calmly picked his spot before finding the bottom corner.

Five minutes later, despite a wait for the video assistant referee (VAR) to confirm Villa should be awarded a penalty, and goalkeeper David Cornell offering some 'advice' as he walked past to take up his position, Rashford's nerve held. He took his time, did an extended stuttering run-up, and found the net.

"The swagger is back," gushed Guy Mowbray in his Match of the Day commentary. "The confidence and the pose."

Many of the back pages are full of praise for Marcus Rashford, after his two goals helped Aston Villa to the FA Cup semi-finals by beating Preston at Deepdale.

The two strikes were Rashford's first for his loan club, after joining from Manchester United in January.

Image source, i

Image source, Times

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter at Deepdale

Marcus Rashford broke his four-month scoring drought to send Aston Villa into the FA Cup semi-finals with victory over Preston at Deepdale.

The on-loan forward's last goals came for Manchester United against Everton in December.

But after a few wasted opportunities against the competition's last remaining Championship outfit, Rashford finally found the target when he tapped home Lucas Digne's 58th-minute cutback.

Five minutes later Rashford kept his nerve to send David Cornell the wrong way with his penalty after Morgan Rogers had been fouled by Andrew Hughes.

Preston battled hard but a clear gulf in class was only underlined by the absence through injury of first-choice goalkeeper Freddie Woodman and on-loan defender Kaine Kasler-Hayden, who was unable to play against his parent club.

Once in front, Villa tightened their grip and Jacob Ramsey smashed in a third from the edge of the area 19 minutes from time, with Digne again the provider as Villa reached the last four for the first time in a decade.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at Vitality Stadium

When Pep Guardiola joined the celebrations with the travelling supporters, conducting their "We've got Guardiola" anthem along with other songs, he grabbed the young hero Nico O'Reilly, shoving him towards the stands to take the acclaim his match-winning turn deserved.

And who can blame Guardiola, as O'Reilly is emerging as City's FA Cup talisman?

He has been directly involved in five goals in four appearances in the competition this season, with three goals and two assists - the latter two both coming in this quarter-final.

O'Reilly is the first City substitute to assist two goals in a game since Ilkay Gundogan against Leeds United in December 2021.

Guardiola said: "Nico is a number 10. He possesses such quality in the final third and has so much vision. We thought he could do it for us on the left as well, and he did."

If Guardiola is looking for vital signs of a brighter future, the composure and class of O'Reilly certainly provides one.

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City are the only team in the semi-finals with any recent record of success in the oldest national football competition in the world.

Forest last got to the final in 1991 and have not won the trophy since 1959, while Aston Villa have been beaten finalists twice since they tasted success for a seventh time back in 1957.

Crystal Palace, meanwhile, have twice lost in the showpiece and never won the cup - and as a result Pep Guardiola's team are very much the bookmakers' favourites.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at Vitality Stadium

Pep Guardiola has a huge rebuild on his hands, and some cracks were still visible here, with an ageing squad containing the players he described as "legendary" called into action such as Ederson, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne.

This might be the last shot at glory as City players for some.

And the use of Matheus Nunes at right-back, a position even his greatest admirers would not suggest he has the qualities for, showed how Guardiola has had an air of desperation about some resources he has juggled this season.

This was, however, about the here and now - not the future. The old trophy-winning muscle memory of Guardiola and his players kicked in when it mattered.

If the FA Cup really is struggling to count as a consolation prize for Guardiola and City this season, you could have fooled everyone inside this ground who watched him.

The Daily Telegraph focus on Manchester City on their back page, and the celebrations between Pep Guardiola and Nico O'Reilly.

City manager Guardiola said their league loss at Vitality Stadium last year was the start of their slump in form this season, and that Sunday represented a return to their best.

Image source, Telegraph

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at Vitality Stadium

Pep Guardiola's frantic body language released every frustration suffered in a season of mediocrity as the clouds lifted and the sun finally shone on Manchester City at Bournemouth.

Guardiola has cut a tortured, agonised figure for most of a campaign in which the form of his City side fell off a cliff after claiming a historic four successive Premier League titles.

And watching Guardiola at close quarters at Vitality Stadium as City came from behind to win 2-1 made a mockery of Guardiola's own assertion that not even winning the FA Cup could make up for failing to make a dent in the Premier League and Champions League.

It was pure theatre watching a man so used to glory - who lives for success - exude relief, celebration and then uncontained joy when City deservedly got over the line.

This was Guardiola publicly savouring the sweet taste of victory after so often failing to find solutions to the crisis, certainly by their own standards, that has dragged City down this term.

He said City came to the Vitality "with flip-flops" when they suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season in November. This was strictly business.