Marcus Rashford ended a four-month drought to put Aston Villa one step closer to wiping out a 68-year dry spell with his double against Preston helping book a Wembley semi-final as the victors look to win their first FA Cup since 1957.

Rashford is a reigning Cup ­winner, lifting the trophy last May to help extend Erik ten Hag’s stay at ­Manchester United, but that ­success did little to reignite either’s Old ­Trafford career. The 27-year-old has improved at Aston Villa after ­leaving behind his home town malaise but everyone has been waiting until now for him to deliver goals to remind everyone of his key purpose on a pitch, these his first since 1 December.

Unai Emery has worked hard to rebuild Rashford after the forward failed to impress Ruben Amorim with his attitude in United training. The change of scenery has ­seemingly helped Rashford, who played twice for Thomas Tuchel’s England in the international break, and he is finally back doing what he can do: making a difference in big matches. It might have been only a win over a ­Championship side but there was still plenty of pressure on Rashford, as the central striker, to lead his side to victory.

If the thought of facing ­Champions League opponents was not ­daunting enough, Preston were without a number of key players, making the task ahead of Rashford and co somewhat easier. The ­goalkeeper David Cornell was called upon to make only his seventh appearance in two and a half years at the club after Freddie Woodman was ruled out for the season, while there were five teenagers on the bench with a grand total of four minutes of first-team action between them.

Everything was done to ignite the atmosphere beforehand, not that choreography was required for ­arguably the club’s biggest match in two decades. A banner was passed along the Sir Tom Finney Stand, flags were placed on every seat and “PNE” was displayed in enormous letters behind one goal, while balloons blew across the pitch to underline the party vibe.

Preston’s fans were eager for ­history and optimistically thought they merited a penalty in the second minute when Will Keane collided with Youri ­Tielemans in the box. The referee, Chris Kavanagh, was not interested but it helped Lancastrian vocal cords to strain for new limits.

Jacob Ramsey makes victory safe with the third goal. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Paul Heckingbottom set up his side to contain Villa to the best of their abilities, limiting the areas for ­midfielders to work in and offering little space in behind for Rashford to utilise. There was an infrequent desire to counter from the hosts as they lacked pace but it felt as if a set piece was their most likely threat in the circumstances, with Emil Riis possessing an ­Olympic long throw and Robbie Brady ­dangerous with a dead ball.

Villa were the more aggressive team in the final third but, despite enjoying 72% possession, caused ­Cornell fewer problems in the ­opening half than the inflatables did. It was a Brady cross that brought hope to his hardworking teammates, as Emiliano Martínez failed to deal with it, allowing Mads Frøkjær to nod towards Stefán Thórdarson in space eight yards from goal. But the Icelander could not stretch his neck enough to get a header on target and that was the closest Preston came to scoring. They are a hard team to beat, drawing 17 of their 38 Championship games but they lack potency, and with a depleted squad the task of downing an elite team was nigh-on impossible.

Rashford should have ended Preston’s resistance when he went through on goal but could not get the ball out of his feet, allowing Cornell to stop him in his tracks. Maybe a more confident Rashford would have taken the chance and the Preston jeers would not have helped him.

Rashford soon had his first Villa goal though – his first since scoring twice for Manchester United against Everton – to relieve his personal ­tension. Lucas Digne had free rein down the left; receiving the ball on the edge of the box without a marker in sight, he squared for Rashford, who caressed his shot into the largely unguarded net.

skip past newsletter promotion

Sign up to Football Daily

Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

after newsletter promotion

Quick Guide

Show

• Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for ‘The Guardian’.
• If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
• In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
• Turn on sport notifications.

Thank you for your feedback.

The England forward almost turned creator when he pulled the ball back for Morgan Rogers, whose shot from a few yards was blocked on the line by Jayden Meghoma. It was ­Rogers who helped out his ­international colleague when he went down after an Andrew Hughes ­challenge in the box, allowing ­Rashford to send ­Cornell the wrong way and finish the tie as a contest.

“I felt that five-minute period took the game from us,” ­Heckingbottom said. “Bang-bang and the game’s gone. I can’t say I am not ­disappointed but I am proud with everyone ­connected with the club today.”

Preston were wilting in cool ­Deepdale sunshine and Jacob ­Ramsey made the most of the ­tiredness, ­darting through the middle before firing into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Any hope of a Preston ­comeback was extinguished and all the noise came from the packed away end as they mentally planned their trip to Wembley, where they will face Crystal Palace in the semis.