Crystal Palace beat Aston Villa to edge closer to first EVER major trophy

Football writer Tom Prentki reviews Crystal Palace's 3-0 FA Cup semi-final victory over Aston Villa.

Crystal Palace 3-0 Aston Villa

Crystal Palace are one win away from lifting their first major trophy in their 120-year history after a dream day at Wembley Stadium.

Oliver Glasner’s side tore Aston Villa apart, scoring three goals worthy of winning any game, especially an FA Cup semi-final played in front of more than 82,000 supporters, each desperate for silverware.

Eberechi Eze scored in the first half before Ismaila Sarr struck twice in the second, with Jean-Phillipe Mateta also missing a penalty for a Palace side who enjoyed their joint-biggest ever win at Wembley, alongside a 4-1 win over Everton in the 1991 Full Members’ Cup Final.

It means the Eagles will return to Wembley next month to face either Nottingham Forest or Manchester City, hoping to improve on the narrow 2-1 defeat they suffered at the hands of Manchester United in the 2016 FA Cup final. This is only the third time they have reached the final of this competition, also getting there in 1990, when they also lost to Man Utd. 

Palace seem to be Villa's bogey side, having now gone five matches unbeaten against them, winning four. And Villa's struggles at Wembley were on show again - they have lost on seven of their last nine Wembley visits.

Villa have won the FA Cup seven times, but they have not lifted the trophy since 1957. That 68-year wait to lift the FA Cup goes on, and the Premier League is now their only route into European football, with an outstanding season now threatening to fizzle out.

"They deserved to win – they played better than us," Villa head coach Unai Emery said post-match.

"Two years ago, when I arrived here, we were in a really bad moment. Everything we are doing is increasing our demands even more than we expect. I’m disappointed, frustrated a little bit. The league is our most important objective and we have to be consistent." 

Villa will need to be at their consistent best to qualify for Europe via their league position. Newcastle United and Chelsea took advantage of Villa not playing in the Premier League this weekend by winning their matches - leaving Villa seventh, three points behind Forest but having played a match more. 

With Marcus Rashford unavailable through injury - Emery saying the forward has a "knock" - one recent talking point was easily settled, with Ollie Watkins restored to the starting line-up to lead Villa’s attack.

But it was Palace's attack that ran the show here. Mateta soon had a goal ruled out for a foul on Ezri Konsa but with their next attack, the game burst into life when Eze scored a brilliant goal.

Stationed in an almost identical position to the one he occupied at Emirates Stadium to score a wonderful goal against Arsenal on Wednesday in the Premier League, Eze again pounced from just outside the area.

The ebullient Sarr was the architect, charging down a clearance and then driving in from the right past Lucas Digne to find Eze who finished unerringly into the top corner with a first-time shot. Only Matheus Cunha and Bruno Fernandes have scored more goals from outside the box (six) than Eze’s five in all competitions this season.

Incredibly, it was the 22nd time this season that Villa conceded with the first shot on target against them.

Glasner would have been disappointed not to have gone in at half-time further ahead, with Tyrick Mitchell missing a great chance to score from another low cross from Sarr. The full-back somehow contrived to miss the ball completely with the goal at his mercy.

But Palace had an even better chance to double their lead soon enough. Eze was fouled and Palace were given a penalty, but Mateta failed to take the chance, his effort hitting a post and going wide. 

However, barely six minutes later, it was Palace who were again jubilant - and nobody was more relieved than Mateta.

Their second goal was instigated by the tireless Adam Wharton, who harried Youri Tielemans out of possession, allowing Mateta to touch the ball to Sarr, and the Sengalese forward did the rest with a wonderful low strike into the bottom corner.

As electrifying as Palace were going forward, there were equally diligent defensively with Mateta and Eze both doing their utmost to quell a Villa storm that never quite broke.

Sarr might have added a third when he headed Daichi Kamada’s precise cross just beyond the far post but he did get the second goal his performance deserved when he completed the scoring with another clinical low finish beyond Martinez to leave the result beyond doubt.

In photos: Palace's FA Cup semi-final win

This season’s fight for European places is too tough to call, but this result keeps Palace's hopes alive. Although they are 12th in the Premier League, they can earn a UEFA Europa League spot by winning the FA Cup. 

It also keeps alive the chance of there being as many as 10 Premier League clubs in European competition next season. More on that, here. 

For Villa, they must now focus on their remaining Premier League matches, against Fulham, AFC Bournemouth, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, and try to claim a top-five finish and a spot in next season's Champions League, a competition they set alight this season. 

All eyes, however, will now turn to the other FA Cup semi-final, on Sunday, as Nottingham Forest face Man City. 

See: Palace report | Villa report