Marlon Harewood fired a late winner as West Ham beat Middles-brough 1-0 at Villa Park on Sunday to reach the FA Cup final for the first time in 26 years.
Harewood blasted home a 78th minute winner at Villa Park to steer West Ham into the final in Cardiff on May 13 against a Liverpool side who beat Chelsea 2-1 in Saturday's semi-final at Old Trafford.
Outplayed by an impressive Boro in the first half, West Ham showed real flair and aggression after the re-start and a club who were playing in the Championship last season finished up deserving winners.
With Liverpool set for the Champions League qualifiers next season, West Ham will take the vacant slot in the UEFA Cup whether they win or lose at the Millennium Stadium.
For Middlesbrough, who have a UEFA Cup semi-final second leg looming on Thursday against Steaua Bucharest, having lost 1-0 last week, the defeat was compounded by losing keeper Mark Schwarzer to injury in the first half.
Schwarzer suffered a suspected broken cheekbone after an aerial collision with West Ham striker Dean Ashton.
Middlesbrough made by far the better start and created more chances in a scrappy first half.
A header from their Dutch striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was charged down and a more powerful one by French midfielder Franck Queudrue fizzed over the bar from a corner.
West Ham came out looking much more positive in the second half, but they were nearly caught out by a counter-attack led by Hasselbaink but then wasted by Rochemback.
Ashton send a header against the crossbar and another into the arms of Jones before West Ham skipper Nigel Reo-Coker raked a low shot just wide of the far post from outside the area.
The breakthrough was not long in coming.
Ashton headed down a long ball upfield from defender Anton Ferdinand for Harewood to latch on and crash a ferocious left-foot shot into the roof of the net.
Queudrue very nearly equalized with a free kick which keeper Shaka Hislop punched away, Nigeria striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni mis-kicked another chance and Italian Massimo Maccarone skied a shot from inside the area as Boro's finishing deserted them.
Chris Riggott summed up their luck by missing a sitter in stoppage time, seconds before the final whistle ended Boro's run in the competition.
David Villa's hat trick in the last eight minutes gave Valencia a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday and maintained the club's faint chances of winning the Spanish title.
With four league games left, the win lifted Valencia within eight points of leader Barcelona, which had its late game suspended because of a water-logged pitch.
Had Valencia lost and Barcelona won, the Catalan team would have claimed its 18th league title.
While Valencia left it late to take control of the match, it did so emphatically when Villa scored in the 82nd minute, again two minutes later and finally in the 86th.
Real Madrid won 2-1 against last-place Malaga, moving up to third place in the standings with 63 points.
Malaga midfielder Ricardo Bovio shocked fans at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium when he scored in the 22nd minute.
A foul by defender Carlos de Oliveira on Madrid captain Raul Gonzalez was converted from the spot by Zinedine Zidane in the 67th minute.
Defender Sergio Ramos headed the winning goal for Madrid in the last minute of regular time, leaving Malaga eight points adrift at the bottom of the standings on 24 points.
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