LONDON :Crystal Palace outplayed Aston Villa as they soared into the FA Cup final for only the third time with two brilliant goals by Ismaila Sarr and a stunner by Eberechi Eze sealing a 3-0 victory in an entertaining game at Wembley on Saturday.
Palace’s fans, dreaming of a first major trophy in the south London club’s 119-year history, cranked up the volume from the first minute and were rewarded in thrilling fashion as the Eagles moved one win away from delivering silverware.
England forward Eze put Palace ahead in the 31st minute with a sweetly-struck right-foot shot from just outside the penalty area after being picked out by the irrepressible Sarr.
Tyrick Mitchell spurned a glorious chance to make it 2-0 just before halftime and when Jean-Phillipe Mateta blazed a penalty wide shortly after the restart Palace might have feared they would be made to pay by their Premier League rivals.
But Villa simply could not cope with Palace’s relentless energy and Sarr then sent a long-range low drive past Emiliano Martinez just before the hour to put his side firmly in control.
The Palace party was already in full swing when Sarr burst clear in stoppage time to finish in style.
Palace lost in the 1990 and 2016 finals, both to Manchester United, and hope to make it third time lucky on May 17 against either Manchester City or Nottingham Forest, who meet in the second semi-final back at Wembley on Sunday.
Less than a fortnight ago Villa bowed out of the Champions League in a blaze of glory as they beat Paris St Germain 3-2 at Villa Park only to lose 5-4 on aggregate.
But defeat by Palace will sting more as hopes of a first FA Cup triumph since 1957 and a first trophy since 1996 were demolished by a Palace side who also knocked them out of this year’s League Cup and took four points off them in the league.
‘SPECIAL DAY’
Palace are thriving under Austrian coach Oliver Glasner despite a slow start to the season and with the likes of Eze, Sarr and Mateta in their ranks they will now believe they can deliver a long-awaited piece of silverware.
“Special day. We want to go all the way and we believe we can do it,” Eze, who was named man of the match before Sarr buried his second goal, said.
“We have showed performances like this all the time, we’re not worried or fearful of facing anyone.”
Villa, who were without the injured Marcus Rashford, can have few complaints as a season that promised so much is in danger of ending in crushing disappointment.
The only time Unai Emery’s side really looked threatening was just after halftime when John McGinn saw his first-time effort palmed over by goalkeeper Dean Henderson who then made a stunning save to keep out Lucas Digne’s low strike.
Mitchell’s air-kick with the goal gaping before halftime and Mateta’s missed penalty, given for a foul on Eze, meant Villa remained in the hunt.
Bur Palace defended their lead in tenacious fashion and ended up comfortable winners.
“If we can perform like we did today in the final then anything is possible. If we play like today, we can beat anyone,” Henderson said.
