*Solano remains the talk of the Tyne*

Amid all the toil and effort, Tyneside belatedly flickered into life yesterday with two goals and a flash of brilliance as the beaten finalists from the past three seasons fought out a predictable stalemate.

Trailing to Steve Stone’s strike, Newcastle restored the equilibrium when Nolberto Solano rammed a stunning volley through a crowded area with 10 minutes remaining. On Wednesday next week, the Toon will have to do without their suspended Peruvian genius and Kieron Dyer as they start from scratch in pursuit of a fourth-round tie against Leicester City.

“It was a typical, fiercely contested match,” said the Newcastle manager Bobby Robson, “but we did well given that a lot of my players were exhausted after playing Tottenham five days ago. Gary Speed was legless; that must be a reflection of the festive games.”

It could hardly be down to premature celebration. The Geordies have not lost an FA Cup tie anywhere other than Wembley for four years, although that record was endangered by Stone’s close-range finish after a tepid first half.

But Solano has been nothing short of inspirational this season; with 10 minutes remaining, he watched the substitute Stephen Glass’s cross loop high from George Boateng’s headed clearance and emphatically crashed a volley past David James from just outside the area.

“I was praying it was going to land for anyone but him when it dropped out of the sky,” said the Villa manager John Gregory. “But he can’t play in the replay. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Solano almost won the tie with a vicious free-kick from near the right touchline in stoppage time. But the home support’s howls of frustration turned to sighs of relief when Darius Vassell sliced over an open goal seconds later.

Such excitement was absent during a first half that was more humdrum than humdinger. The visitors marginally made the brighter start and might have taken the lead after 10 minutes as Dion Dublin stooped to meet Paul Merson’s first-time cross. Steve Harper dived full stretch to his right and palmed the ball around the post.

Frustrated by the tedium, the home support took instead to baiting their former favourite David Ginola. He was clearly desperate to impress, but Andy Griffin dumped him on his backside after four minutes and his afternoon hardly improved thereafter. The same defender scythed him down horribly on the quarter-hour; Ginola, battered and bruised, spent the rest of the half stumbling to the floor or back-healing the ball out of play.

Yet his only flash of genius helped put Villa ahead. Nine minutes after the break, Ginola back-heeled the ball to the marauding Gareth Barry, who cut inside Griffin and crossed for Stone to thump his volley beyond Harper.

“Steve was by far our best player on the day and he’ll take particular delight in that goal, being a Geordie,” said Gregory.

Villa might have expected to bask in counter-attacking intent yet appeared to lose their poise. Against the wall of claret and blue, Clarence Acuna headed Solano’s cross wide of the far post and Shola Ameobi, fed by Dyer, struck the outside of a post. Then came the Peruvian’s party piece and a frantic finish.

Their re-match assured, both managers can now turn their attentions to adding to their increasingly threadbare squads. Robson has taken Sheffield United’s left-back Wayne Quinn on a month’s loan with a view to a permanent transfer, but has given up waiting for Didier Domi to return from Paris.

Gregory remains hopeful of completing the club-record £9.5m signing of Juan Pablo Angel from River Plate. A phone call from Argentina yesterday may have resurrected the deal, although he said: “I’m not confident, but it’s not dead.”