Crystal Palace booked their place in the FA Cup final for only the third time in their history with a commanding 3-0 victory over Aston Villa at Wembley on Saturday, driven by a brilliant brace from Ismaïla Sarr.
Palace maintained their recent dominance over Villa, extending their unbeaten run to five matches in all competitions against the seven-time winners.
The opening exchanges reflected the tension expected in a semi-final, with few clear opportunities and only a couple of early yellow cards to note.
However, Aston Villa came closest to an early breakthrough when Lucas Digne’s innocuous cross unsettled the Palace defence, allowing Morgan Rogers a half-chance that he volleyed narrowly wide.
That moment injected some urgency into proceedings, but it was Palace who seized the initiative thereafter.
Jean-Philippe Mateta thought he had opened the scoring after finding the net, only for the goal to be disallowed due to a foul on Ezri Konsa in the buildup.
Moments later, Palace’s pressure told when Eberechi Eze struck decisively from the edge of the area after being set up by Sarr, giving the Eagles a deserved lead.
Despite another golden opportunity just before halftime, Palace failed to extend their advantage as Tyrick Mitchell misfired from a promising position.
Early in the second half, Mateta had a chance to double Palace’s lead from the penalty spot after Boubacar Kamara fouled Eze, but his effort struck the post.
Palace’s persistence was rewarded when Adam Wharton regained possession and Sarr unleashed a stunning long-range effort beyond Emiliano Martínez to make it 2-0.
Sarr missed a close-range header late on, but made amends deep into stoppage time by finishing off a swift counter-attack for his second goal of the afternoon, sealing an emphatic win.
Palace will now await the winner of the second semi-final between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, while Villa’s hopes for silverware shift back to their Premier League campaign.
