An Eberechi Eze-inspired Crystal Palace romped into the FA Cup semi-finals with a thumping 3-0 win at London rivals Fulham.
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Palace reach FA Cup semi-finalsBeat Fulham 3-0 at Craven CottageEze, Sarr and Nketiah on scoresheetFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱TELL ME MORE
Fulham began the game brightly, with Rodrigo Muniz and Andreas Pereira fashioning good chances in front of a fired-up support at Craven Cottage on Saturday. Despite being under the cosh, Palace nearly took the lead when Jefferson Lerma's 25-yard volley cannoned off the bar to fire a warning shot.
Somewhat against the run of play, the deadlock was broken in the 34th minute when Eze curled in a stunning strike from the edge of the box. The England international then fizzed in a delightful cross and team-mate Ismaila Sarr got ahead of his marker to make it 2-0 four minutes later.
The deflated Cottagers took a while to find their mojo again and nearly found a way back into the game when Calvin Bassey was denied by some last-ditch defending in a goalmouth scramble.
The defensively sound Eagles, who welcomed back striker Jean-Philippe Mateta following a horror head injury, put the game to bed when substitute Eddie Nketiah beat the offside trap and fired under the body of Bernd Leno 15 minutes from time. Palace advanced to their second FA Cup semi-final in four years as they seek to lift this trophy for the first time in their long history.
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While Chris Richards was a brick wall in defence, Eze was the spark that Palace needed to fire them to victory. He showed individual brilliance for his goal and his assist was sumptuous, too. If Palace are to win the FA Cup for the first time, the England international is likely to play a big part in that.
THE BIG LOSER
While none of Marco Silva's players had a particularly bad game, Fulham as a whole didn't create enough clear-cut chances and Palace were far more clinical. They didn't make use of home advantage and were well beaten.
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Palace will now await the FA Cup semi-final draw on Sunday afternoon following the conclusion of Preston versus Aston Villa. A trip to Wembley awaits the south London outfit.