Everton's youngsters steered their side to a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa and a place in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Sunday.
Seventeen-year-old Jack Rodwell opened the scoring at Goodison Park, James Milner equalized for Villa with a penalty and Mikel Arteta restored the lead from the spot with a penalty earned by 20-year-old Victor Anichebe. A 76th-minute strike by Australia's Tim Cahill sealed the fifth round win.
Everton manager David Moyes said: "Credit to the players, they're playing so well just now. The boys at the back, and Tim Cahill was outstanding at centre-forward today alongside Anichebe and Rodwell. You are talking about a really good team performance."
Villa manager Martin O'Neill tried to look on the bright side for his team, which is third in the Premier League and chasing a Champions League slot, while also juggling UEFA Cup commitments.
"We've been on the go since July because we entered the UEFA Cup through the Intertoto," O'Neill said. "It's been a long, long time and I didn't come this far for us to fail...We've gone in as a strongly as we could.
"But maybe _ but not tonight, not tomorrow _ I'll maybe think it's a blessing in disguise."
Everton went ahead in the fourth minute following a corner by Arteta. A header by Cahill beat Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel, but Bulgaria's Stilian Petrov clearly appeared to stick out a hand to stop the ball on the line.
As Everton players protested, Rodwell hooked the ball into the top right hand corner of the net.
Everton's lead lasted just four minutes. Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor powered forward into the Everton box, but was brought down by a clumsy challenge from Tony Hibbert. Milner converted the resulting penalty, after Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard allowed the ball to squirm under his body.
Villa, though missing suspended captain Gareth Barry and Emile Heskey _ injured during Englands friendly defeat by Spain in midweek _ was a match for an Everton side, which was also driven forward by 19-year-old Dan Gosling, the scorer of the fourth round winner against Liverpool on Feb. 4. Everton was soon back in front after Anichebe, looking determined to impress after missing the win over Liverpool following a training ground bust-up with coach David Moyes, set off on a determined run.
Steve Sidwell upended the Liverpool-born Nigeria international inside the Villa penalty area and Arteta slotted home the spot-kick, as Friedel dived the wrong way.
Villa looked for an equalizer after the break and nearly found one in the 60th minute when John Carew collected a flighted ball into the Everton box from the right wing and flicked the ball goalwards. Howard dived at full stretch to turn the ball away, and Villa could do nothing from the resulting corner.
Everton put the result beyond doubt in the 75th minute following some good work on the left of the Villa area by Anichebe. Villa's Curtis Davies should have cleared but slipped, leaving Cahill, a midfielder playing in an attacking role on Sunday, to drive the ball past Friedel from close range.
Victory not only booked Everton into the last eight, but also avenged defeat in a thrilling Premier League match at Goodison in December when Villa came back in injury-time to win 3-2, seconds after Everton players thought they had earned a point with a late equalizer.
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