Aston Villa took a step towards next month's League Cup final at Wembley when a James Milner goal gave it a 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers in the first leg of their semifinal at Ewood Park Thursday. Milner struck after a lightning quick counter-attack in the 23rd minute that began with an unconvincing punch out from Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan and ended with Milner, unmarked in the Rovers area, angling his shot home. Rovers, largely overwhelmed in the first half and booed off at the break, improved in the second period and Nikola Kalinic was unlucky not to score after hitting the same post twice, first with a header then with a well-struck low curling shot. The teams meet again in the second leg at Villa Park next Wednesday and the eventual winner will face either holder Manchester United or Manchester City in the 50th League Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Feb. 28. Fiorentina beats Chievo In Rome, Adrian Mutu scored twice to help Fiorentina come from behind and beat Chievo Verona 3-2 to advance to the Italian Cup quarterfinals Thursday. Mutu found the target in the 35th and 77th minutes at Florence's Artemio Franchi Stadium, with striker Khouma Babacar also scoring for the home side. After Pablo Granoche Louro put Chievo ahead seven minutes in, Mutu hit the crossbar in the 28th then equalized following a cross from Manuel Pasqual. Simone Bentivoglio restored Chievo's lead in the 38th and Babacar made it 2-2 by redirecting in a free kick from Pasqual in the 75th. Two minutes later, Mutu skipped past two defenders and scored the winner from the edge of the area. Fiorentina forward Alberto Gilardino and first-choice goalkeeper Sebastien Frey sat out the match. Fiorentina will next face defending champion Lazio, which beat Palermo 2-0. Aleksandar Kolarov put Lazio in front in the 57th and Sergio Floccari doubled the lead in the 74th for his fourth goal in three games since joining the Rome club from Genoa. Also, Udinese eliminated third-division Lumazzane 2-0. Francesco Lodi scored a penalty seconds before halftime and Bernardo Corradi sealed the win with a goal in the 61st. Udinese's quarterfinal opponent will be AC Milan, which edged third-division Novara 2-1 Wednesday. Also advancing were Juventus, Inter Milan, AS Roma and Catania. Barcelona out of Cup Barcelona exited its first competition under coach Pep Guardiola when the defending champion dropped out of the Copa del Rey despite beating Sevilla 1-0 Wednesday. Sevilla advanced to the quarterfinals of the domestic cup on away goals after the two-leg series ended 2-2. Barcelona's unrelenting second-half pressure paid off in the 64th minute as Xavi Hernandez chested down Ndri Romaric's weak clearance outside the area to curl a shot through a crowd and past the outstretched Andres Palop. Sevilla will play Deportivo La Coruna after the Galician club scored twice in the second half to draw 2-2 against Valencia and advance 4-3 on aggregate. Third-tier Alcorcon drew 0-0 at Racing Santander to lose 3-2 on aggregate. Racing will play Osasuna. Getafe routed Malaga 5-1 to easily advance 6-3.
