Crystal Palace are through to the FA Cup final are beating Aston Villa at Wembley.
Speaking ahead of the game, Eagles boss Oliver Glasner challenged his key men to step up and deliver at Wembley to secure a place in next month’s final.
Glasner got his wish as two sensational finishes from Eberechi Eze and Ismaila Sarr means Crystal Palace will be back at the national stadium on May 17, 2025 to contest the FA Cup final against either Nottingham Forest or Manchester City.
The first-half took a while to get going and it was a moment of controversy that ultimately sparked the game into life
Jean-Philippe Mateta thought he had broken the deadlock just before the half hour mark, but his celebrations were cut short when referee, Anthony Taylor, adjudged the striker to have fouled Ezri Konsa.
It looked a soft decision but Palace weren’t complaining for long as Eze produced a moment of quality not too long after.
Sarr did well to win the ball back and rolled a pass across the penalty area to Eze who then fired a wonderful effort past Emiliano Martinez. The attempt was fairly central but the Argentine couldn’t get a hand to it.
The Eagles then twice went close to doubling their lead before the break. Firstly, Sarr couldn’t guide an effort on target following great wing play from Mateta before Tyrick Mitchell fluffed his lines when presented with a great chance.
Dean Henderson was called into action to make superb saves either side of the half-time whistle to deny Konsa and Lucas Digne.
Just like in the first-half, Palace responded superbly to a setback early in the second half.
Mateta had the chance to double Palace’s lead from the penalty spot after Eze was fouled by Boubacar Kamara in the box. However, the usually reliable striker put his effort wide of the post.
Though the miss was forgotten just a few minutes later as Sarr arrowed an effort into the bottom corner from almost 25 yards out.
Sarr added gloss to the scoreline with a third goal in injury time as Palace recorded yet another win over Aston Villa to confirm their place in the FA Cup final.
