James Milner scored twice on his 23rd birthday as Aston Villa avoided becoming the latest Premier League club to make an early FA Cup exit with a 2-1 third round win away to Gillingham.
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Aston Villa's James Milner celebrates the second goal against Gillingham. PIC/AP |
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In between Milner opening the scoring and netting a penalty 11 minutes from time, Villa fourth in the Premier League and 74 places above Gillingham were given a torrid time by their hosts from the fourth-tier League Two.
The lively Simeon Jackson drew Gillingham level in the 56th minute after a superb turn and shot left the Villa defence floundering.
"We knew it would be tough," O'Neill told ITV. "It was very hard. I'm delighted for the supporters and we went as strong as we possibly could. They (Gillingham) are very strong, they played very well and good luck to them this season."
Jackson said that his side had put up a good performance. "As a team we did very well but unfortunately we couldn't get the result."
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