Crystal Palace soar into FA Cup semi-final with thumping victory over Fulham

Eddie Nketiah celebrates scoring Crystal Palace’s third goal to put the tie beyond Fulham – Action Images/Paul Childs

It has only been 164 years that Crystal Palace have waited for a major trophy so they can certainly wait a couple of months more, having arrived at another Wembley semi-final and the brink of another shot at the FA Cup.

This is the golden era for Palace, a Premier League team for 11 seasons and at least another in prospect and now another FA Cup semi-final. They reached that stage three seasons ago, and the final in 2016, and now one of the oldest clubs in the world have a chance for what would be the first major honour in their entire history. They looked like the ultimate Cup team in this game, with ruthless finishing and a solid back five that made this victory look straightforward.

It seemed to hang on a fabulous Eberechi Eze finish for the first on 34 minutes after Fulham had dominated the game up to that stage. Indeed, the home side had more than 70 per cent possession over the entirety of it but they had none of the electric counter-attacking or the finishing of Ismaila Sarr and then Eddie Nketiah, the substitute, who scored within minutes of coming on in the second half.

Like Palace, Fulham are also one of the oldest teams in football and they too have never won a major honour in the game. The wait goes on. Their fans were slipping out of Craven Cottage with 15 minutes to play. Marco Silva’s team had looked much more comfortable in the early stages but over time it was Oliver Glasner whose plan looked the most viable. His three centre-halves were superb. Chris Richards was arguably the pick of them. Adam Wharton rode out an early yellow card which put him in a tight spot and the early Eze goal just gave the whole thing direction. As the tie went on Fulham drifted and none of Silva’s changes made a difference.

More to follow…

Key number one was to survive the first 20 minutes, we were really rusty after nearly three weeks without a game. Key number two was Eberechi’s goal, it was unbelievable.

I told him his goal was so important as we got the belief back. You need something, some positive actions when you’re struggling in a game.

It’s not fair today just to talk about one player, it was a real team effort.

It was an important goal, I’m happy to help the team and that’s what I’m in the team to do. We didn’t start well. That’s where I want to get the ball in the pockets. We are confident in ourselves, we know what we are capable of. Games like today we showed the mentality and the resilience to [demonstrate] we can go far in this competition.

Fully deserved victory for Palace and, as their fans have been saying for the past hour, they are indeed Wembley bound. Easy, or rather Eze like Saturday morning…

Nketiah sets up camp in the corner and only lets go when levered into an advertising board.

Franca → Eze.

The England forward departs to a standing ovation from the away fans and a big hug from his manager.

Three minutes of stoppage time to come, the board informs us.

Ally McCoist makes Eberechi Eze his man of the match while mentioning Richards and the referee in dispatches.

He says Palace’s performance off the ball is as good as anything he’s seen for a long time.

Clyne is unnecessarily booked for mucking about.

Palace fans are having a field day in the sun.

Devenny → Sarr

Clyne → Munoz

Munoz, Ezem Nketiah and Sarr all break upfield with Munoz on the ball and with so many options. And yet he chooses to hang on to the ball and ends up running down a blind alley.

Cairney → Iwobi.

The club captain comes on to defend a Palace corner. Lacroix goes up with Bassey and wins the header only for Richards to block his team-mate’s attempt.

‘Joachim, Joachim what’s the score?’ the Palace fans gleefully bellow. I’m not sure he asked for the transfer. Glasner wanted to sell him, I’d heard.

Sarr, a mile offside, is allowed to play on and go through one-on-one with Leno who makes a good save with his feet. The home fans are streaming out of the ground.

This has become a remarkable day for Palace. Eddie Nketiah on for Mateta and scores within a few minutes. A right foot finish whipped through Bernd Leno’s legs. Fulham fans already leaving. Fulham have had lots of possession and no cutting edge.

Fulham 0 Palace 3 (Nketiah) Goal stands after VAR offside check. Bassey triggered the offside trap half a second too late and played Nketiah onside by a gnat’s eyebrow. The substitute ignored Bassey’s raised arm to dart down the left of the box, switch it on to his right and bend the ball with his right instep into the bottom right corner.

Fulham 0 Palace 3 (Nketiah)

Lacroix is booked for time-wasting over the taking of a free-kick. Palace have been swinging the lead for much of the second half. Game management etc.

A raft of changes:

Kamada → Wharton

Nketiah → Mateta.

Sessegnon → Robinson

Jiménez → Willian.

Fulham should have scored and would have done so from the corner but for Sarr. The cross was headed towards goal by Andersen and Bassey was perfectly placed in front of Henderson to flick it in but he was stopped at first by Mitchell’s tackle and then, when the ball sat up again, by Sarr’s goal-line clearance.

Traoré‘s blistering pace gets the home fans on their feet as he drives down the right but then hits his cross straight at Guehi. The ball comes over to the left and Willian cuts in on to his right, like Eze and tries to curl the ball into the bottom right corner. It hits a raised Palace leg and loops menacingly to Henderson’s left but the keeper is quick enough to get over and claw it behind.

Sarr goes down at the end of a counter-attack down the right when challenged by Robinson but it was more of a lean than a barge or shove.

Traoré → Pereira

Smith Rowe → Lukic.

The two departees were the two players Marco Silva said before the match that had better claims than Smith Rowe given their recent form.

Fulham’s two subs have been waiting to come on for three minutes as Fulham continue to probe without penetrating Palace’s two disciplined banks of five and four when sitting deep before triggering the counter press.

Richards has been a defensive beast in the air and is the first man again to Iwobi’s cross, bludgeoning his header behind for a corner to thwart Muniz.

Palace defend Andersen’s flick-on from the corner then, to groans from the home fans, Mitchell intercepts Pereira’s attempted cut-back from the right, looking for Lukic.

Palace chip the ball up to Sarr who flicks it out to Munoz belting up the right. He raises his gaze and clips a cross to the far side of the penalty spot, bypassing the runs of Mateta and Sarr, looking for Eze who has made the perfect run but seemingly pulls out of fully committing to an aerial battle with Andersen who beats him to it, Had he gone for it wholeheartedly he may have got there first but then again he might well have broken his nose.

Some sharp sweeper-keepering from Leno, channelling his compatriot Neuer, to race 25 yards outside his box to lump a clearance and stop Palace releasing Sarr on a solo charge.

What could Fulham change? I’d suggest sticking Traoré on. It doesn’t always work but of they can get the ball consistently to him he can bulldoze his way through.

Both teams come out to London Calling by The Clash, as per every London derby. A great track about a dystopian future and the catastrophe of a “nuclear error”. The magic of the Cup.

I live by the river.

Richards heads away the cross from the corner and then wins the next header when the ball is swung back into the box.

Munoz gets away with what looked like a foul throw but given that he conceded possession I suppose it doesn’t matter. Willian and Robinson team up well again on the left to earn Fulham a corner when Willian’s cross is blocked and rebounds behind.

Richards is the second player in the book after swiping across Muniz’s calves from behind as the Brazilian forward sprinted down the inside-left channel.

So you’ve been publicly shamed?

Great Cup tie. Fulham shell-shocked. They have controlled much of the possession and squeezed Palace deep into their own half. On the other hand, Palace’s finishing has been a sensation. The goals from Eze and Sarr were very well taken. Now Fulham have to break down the five-man defence to get back in this. Not impossible and they have some options off the bench. Fascinating second half awaits.

Sort of a smash and grab given Fulham’s dominance but that would suggest brute force rather than the scalpel-like precision of the wonderful Eze. More like organ theft than a ram-raid.

Bassey bullocks down the left after Willian’s speculative shot, clearly snatched at with an eye on the clock, is blocked on the edge of the box. The marauding centre-back piles past Munoz but his cross hits Richards and the ref blows his whistle for half-time.

After a rocky start and a yellow card, Adam Wharton has just pirouetted and drag-backed his way through the Fulham midfield. His subsequent pass could have been better but he was probably still thinking about the drag-back.

Iwobi stops Mitchell ducking inside him with a necessary foul about 35 yards out. Eze takes and whips it towards the 18-yard line. Lacroix wins the header but can’t do anything with it from so far out.

As Ally McCoist points out, Fulham are shellshocked. All you can hear are the Palace fans and, naturally, their delighted Que Sera Seras.

Another brilliant piece of skill from Eze. This time his right foot and he picks out Ismaila Sarr at the near post for Palace’s second. The away side have been ruthless in taking chances – and they’ve also hit the bar. The Cottage is becalmed. Only the away end singing.

Fulham 0 Palace 2 (Sarr) A goal and now an assist for Eze. He bustles through a tackle on the whitewash on the left on halfway, lays it off and then sprints up the wing to receive Lacroix’s pass. He exploits Berge going to sleep to burst towards the byline and pick out Sarr’s cute run across Leno to almost blindside him and nod it in at the near post.

That Eberi Eze strike was past Bernd Leno before the goalkeeper had got his arm straight. A beautiful goal. He took Sasa Lukic for a little walk and then hit it with such force and very suddenly.

Fulham 0 Palace 1 (Eze) What a week for the playmaker. After a debut goal for England which had the helping hand of a huge deflection, he scores a beauty here. Mitchell cushions a long diagonal high up the left wing then feeds it to Eze who skitters inside, lines up Lukic and bends it round him from 19 yards and unstoppably into the bottom right corner.

Henderson has to be alert to race off his line and jump above Muniz to gather. When his hip hits the striker’s shoulder he goes over him and lands awkwardly while still clutching the ball. He’s only winded, though.

Andersen knocks it long and a mix-up between Guehi and Mitchell almost braeches their defences but Lerma and Lacroix mop up.

Not sure that Palace have weathered the storm to the extent of seeing it off but they have been much better in the last 10 minutes. Wharton, though, is walking a tightrope. He seems to be ticking today.

Few greater sights than a dipping volley struck with the outside of the foot. Jefferson Lerma rings the Fulham bar with his right. Great technique.

Oh my goodness! Eze plays the free-kick to Wharton lurking close to the wall and he flicks it round the corner but Iwobi read his mind and latches on to the ball to hoof it clear. Lerma, 20 yards out to the right of the D, meets it with immaculate technique in the volley and steers a dipping effort over Leno’s dive on to the heart of the crossbar. Another six inches of dip…

Wharton, who is being booed, throws his arms in the air when Lukic tugs Mateta’s biceps when the striker threatened to burst down the inside-left. Palace free-kick 25 yards out.

Wharton, who has been booked, reacts stupidly when he crashes into Muniz, sticking out a leg to swipe at him after contact.

VAR is having a look but it cannot award yellows, only reds. Wharton deposits a flea into Muniz’s ear.

Chance for Pereira from a spot to the left of the D after he hounded Sarr off the ball and received it back from Willian but with Richards throwing himself in front of the shot, Pereira rakes it wide of the right post.

Here’s that Robinson pass from earlier:

Wharton is booked for a late tackle and from behind on Willian. Fulham keep raining crosses into the box from both full-backs and wingers.

Very strong start from Fulham. For a period they would not give Palace a moment to breathe. Mateta’s ear protector is substantial enough that he could probably slip an AirPod in there and get a podcast on.

Berge stops Sarr’s cross at the near post after the former Udinese/Watford winger formed a neat triangle with Warton and Mateta to drive to the byline. Once a centre-forward… Ally McCoist bemoans the cross not being stood up to the back post. Lacroix wins the header from the corner but Mateta cannot hook the bouncing ball past Leno.. In fact he doesn’t connect at all… and if he had have done he may well have been offside.

The replay of Andersen’s shot shows Lerma blocking it with his arm but from very close range and inadvertently.

Adam Wharton fights for the ball with Rodrigo Muniz – HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images

Another Fulham attack down their left with Willian playing a cute reverse pass to Robinson who crosses deep, too deep, and Mitchell turns it behind.

From the corner Lerma again makes a crucial sliding block to stop Andersen’s fierce drive from 20 yards after latching on to Guehi’s defensive header.

Wonderful diagonal pass from Robinson with the outside of his boot sets Fulham off on a counter from the Palace free-kick and Willian earns a corner after being sent down the wing by Iwobi’s smart crossfield pass. Willian takes the corner and swings it under the crossbar. Guehi wins a crucial header to thwart Bassey who looked as if he was going to bundle it in.

All Fulham so far. Palace have had almost no possession and what little they’ve had has lasted no more than two phases. That’s better from Mateta in the centre-circle to brush off Bassey and lay it off via Eze to Mitchell who shifts it inside with dainty feet and is brought down.

Fulham free-kick 15 yards inside the Palace half for Wharton clipping Pereira’s heels. Pereira takes short to Willian who chips it to the left of the box where it’s headed down to Lukic. He takes a touch to line up a half-volley but that gives Lerma the chance to close the gap and block the shot from the 18-yard line when it comes

Big chance for Muniz who bullies Guehi when they challenge for a header, bumping him off the ball and then bouncing off Lacroix to advance into the box on the right. He opens his body to try to guide a left-foot shot into the bottom left corner with bend and pace but can’t get it to creep back inside the post.

Robinson, captaining Fulham, hares down the left and feeds Willian and whips in an early cross that Palace head out and the home side work it back to Leno who drives a long ball up the right and out for a Palace throw.

Greetings from the Craven Cottage – sunny and nicely chilly and full of noise. Perfect for some Cup football. Feels like a great high stakes afternoon for both clubs. Marvellous.

They will come out to the sight of black and white flags on a glorious spring morning all along the Riverside and Johnny Haynes stands. Palace fans have balloons rather than flags save for the usual tifos.

Front view of the head guard

Side view of the ear guard

They are a very physical side, that is one of their many characteristics. Very athletic wing-backs and three [excellent] forwards. They know us very well, we know them very well and we want to write a different story this time [different to their 2-0 defeat last month].

I’m sorry, I missed this when it went out live. Palace are on a fine run of nine wins in their last 11 games:

Fulham Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Lukic Andreas Pereira; Iwobi, Rodrigo Muniz, Willian.

Substitutes Benda, Diop, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Reed, Cairney, Smith Rowe, Traore, Jimenez.

Crystal Palace Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Lerma, Wharton, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Mateta.

Substitutes Turner, Nketiah, Franca, Clyne, Kamada, Esse, Chilwell, Devenny, Kporha.

Referee Darren England (Barnsley).

Robinson fit, Lukic back from suspension:

Mateta returns:

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Good morning and welcome to the sixth-round FA Cup tie between Fulham and Crystal Palace from Craven Cottage, a meeting between neighbours who are only 10 miles apart but who have never been what you would call rivals. Up for grabs for these two sides who remain virgins in terms of the big three trophies, Cup, League Cup and top division title, is a place in the semi-finals and a trip to Wembley, a stage of the competition Fulham have not reached since 2002 when they lost 1-0 to Chelsea at Villa Park, and Palace last made three years ago when they were also seen off by Chelsea.

Four places and six points separate the two clubs in the Premier League, Fulham in eighth having beaten Palace 2-0 at Selhurst Park back in November before Oliver Glasner’s side roared back after their sticky start to win 2-0 at the Cottage last month by virtue of an own goal from former Eagle Joachim Andersen and a Daniel Muñoz thunderer having dispatched Calvin Bassey to buy a pint of milk with a shimmy-shake.

Strangely this is the first FA Cup tie between the two for 118 years and while home advantage is usually crucial for the higher-placed league side in the last of the knockout rounds before they shift to a neutral venue, Palace are unbeaten in their last six visits, winning three and drawing the other half. The away side should welcome Jean-Philippe Mateta back today after, in the immortal words of Derek and Clive in This Bloke Came Up to Me, he had ‘his ear kicked in’ by Millwall’s Liam Roberts in the last round. Will Hughes has been ill this week and faces a late test while Fulham have Sasa Lukic back from suspension and hope the injury that kept their Jedi, Antonee Robinson, at home during the international break is healed though he was given only a 50-50 shot in the build-up by his manager.

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Luxury House

Crystal Palace soar into FA Cup semi-final with thumping victory over Fulham

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