Wycombe Wanderers’ FA Cup run came to end as Ciaran Clark and Idrissa Gueye scored to lead Aston Villa to a 2-0 win.
The Blues matched their Premier League opposition for much of the 90 minutes twice went close to breaking the deadlock in the first half at Villa Park.
Clark headed the opener with 75 minutes played in the third round replayand a tired looking Wycombe could not rally as Villa drove forward to double the lead late on.
Villa will go on to face Manchester City in the fourth round while Wycombe will turn their attention to league action where they face Leyton Orient on Saturday.
Wycombe settled well but an under-hit Joe Jacobson free kick saw Villa produce the first moment of quality as Jack Grealish led a sweeping counter attack.
Wood battles for possession
Jacobson atoned for his error, clearing behind for a corner, and Rudy Gestede headed harmlessly wide from the resulting set piece.
Wanderers responded well and but for a poor pass from Garry Thompson, Paul Hayes would have had a clear run at goal in the 10th minute.
While the Blues didn’t create any clear openings in the early stages they were playing with an intensity that the hosts were struggling to deal with.
A fine piece of skill from Jordan Ayew saw the winger ease past Jacobson after a quarter-of-an-hour and fire a rising shot just wide of Matt Ingram’s near post.
The Premier League side made nine changes from the side that drew 1-1 against Leicester at the weekend and struggled to produce anything like a cohesive performance in the first 30 minutes.
Ainsworth appeals during the first half
They were second to most balls and bar the creative spark of Ayew failed to threaten the Wycombe back four.
Sam Wood drew a fantastic save from Brad Guzan as Paul Hayes’ looping cross fell to the Wycombe wide man on the edge of the box.
Wood hit a first time volley towards the bottom left corner, but the big American got down superbly to parry the ball to safety.
With five minutes remaining in the half, the pace of Scott Sinclair almost proved decisive as he raced in behind Anthony Stewart.
The Centre-back did well to get back though and the Villa man could only fire a deflected strike into the side netting.
Wanderers hit straight back and Thompson was agonisingly close to giving the League Two side a lead as he got on the end of a fine Wycombe attack.
Jacobson arrived on the overlap to place a pinpoint cross just out of the reach of a stranded Guzan and Thompson headed just over the bar with the goal unguarded.
It was the closest either side came to an opener in a first half in which the Blues looked the likelier to score and limited Villa to minimal openings.
With the second half just four minutes old a poor touch from Jacobson gave Ayew and Gestede a two-on-one opportunity.
Aaron Pierre did fantastically though as he first cut out Ayew’s pass and then outmuscled the Villa man to earn a goal kick.
Villa were now playing like a team sitting more than 50 places above their rivals in the Football League pyramid and Ayew again went close with a driving run and low shot.
A brilliant touch from Stewart, in which he sold a dummy to Gestede, led to Wycombe’s first chance of the half after 60 minutes.
Stewart released Wood’s whose cross found an unmarked Thompson. However the forward, who was stretching every inch of himself to connect, could only header wide.
Again it was Ayew who offered the Villa response as he raced into the box and sent a testing cross into the Wycombe six yard box.
The ball eluded the onrushing Grealish and fell to Sinclair who smashed a left footed effort well wide of the target.
Moments later Pierre produced a truly brilliant block to deny Sinclair. The former Manchester City man had beaten two men and placed a curling effort towards the bottom corner.
Aaron Pierre meakes a excellent block
With Ingram helpless, Pierre threw his body in the way and prevented what would have been a certain goal.
Villa were now well on top and they found the opener with 75 minutes on the clock as Clark headed home from close range.
The Villa man found space in the centre of the area after a short corner and his powerful effort left Ingram with no chance.
Clark wheels away after scoirng the opener
Try as they might, Wanderers couldn’t retain possession and in truth they failed to produce a serious attempt at getting back into the game.
With time running out the Blues were picked apart by Villa as a deep cross found Sinclair on the left who played the ball back to Gueye.
The half-time substitute opened up his body and curled into the far corner from just inside the Wycombe box to seal the result.
Aston Villa: Guzan; Lyden, Richards (c), Clark, Richardson, Sanchez (Gana 45), Westwood, Ayew, Grealish (Gil 73), Sinclair, Gestede
Subs not used: Bunn; Lescott, Veretout, Kozak, Cissokho
Wycombe Wanderers: Ingram; McCarthy, Stewart, Pierre, Jacobson, Harriman, O’Nien, Bloomfield (McGinn 53), Wood, Thompson (Ugwu 79), Hayes (c) (Amadi-Holloway 73)
Subs not used: Lynch; Jombati, Bean, UdumagaBookings: McGinn, Jacobson (foul on Gestede 82)
Referee: Craig Pawson
Attendance: 20,706
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