Aston Villa’s FA Cup dream is over at the semi-final stage after a wonder goal from Eberechi Eze and two clinical Ismaila Sarr strikes earned Crystal Palace a comfortable 3-0 win at Wembley Stadium.
The Villa Park faithful, packing out the east end of Wembley, were stunned as Unai Emery’s men hardly laid a glove on Palace in the first half and were unable to fight back in the second. Dean Henderson was the Villans’ nemesis as the Palace goalkeeper made four important saves, including to keep out Ezri Konsa’s header and Lucas Digne’s half-volley.
It was a quiet first 20 minutes or so as both teams tried to get a feel for the atmosphere but Palace sensed blood on the half-hour mark as Jean-Philippe Mateta saw a goal controversially ruled out. Before Mateta slotted the ball into the net, referee Anthony Taylor had already whistled for a foul the striker on Villa centre-back Ezri Konsa. Taylor perhaps should have allowed play to run and let VAR assess as the contact was minimal.
Palace soon forgot that moment as Eze thundered the Londoners in front with a stunner from outside the area. Pau Torres was at fault for Villa as his attempted pass out from the back was blocked by Sarr, who recycled possession on the right flank and found Eze. The finish, first time and curled off his right boot, was immense from Palace’s number 10.
Konsa went agonisingly close to scoring an equaliser for Villa before the break as he headed towards the bottom right from a Marco Asensio corner, but Henderson got down brilliantly to make the save. Tyrick Mitchell then had a big chance to double Palace’s lead as he swung and missed from a clever Daniel Munoz cutback.
Villa started the second half strongly as John McGinn had a powerful effort batted away by Henderson before the Palace goalkeeper made an even more impressive stop to turn Digne’s beautifully-struck 25-yard half-volley around the post.
Palace had a huge opportunity to extend their advantage as they were awarded a penalty in the 52nd minute, but Mateta fluffed his lines from the spot, firing wide with a flick off the right post. Boubacar Kamara was spared his blushes as he gave the penalty away so clumsily, completely mistiming his challenge on Eze.
It wasn’t long until the Eagles did have their second, however, as Sarr thumped the ball home from no fewer than 25 yards. Tielemans gave the ball away in midfield as Adam Wharton rushed in to intercept before Mateta laid it off to Sarr, who skipped away from Rogers’ challenge to fire emphatically into the far corner from 25 yards.
Villa dominated possession after going 2-0 down as Palace sat deep in a low block. The chances certainly flowed for Emery’s side but Henderson was equal to everything fired his way.
Palace remained a threat on the transition and Sarr wrapped up the game in stoppage time, rounding off a devastating counter-attack by out-sprinting Konsa and firing clinically past Martinez. The winger could have had a hat-trick as he was merely inches away from scoring a third around 10 minutes before his second, glancing a header just past the post.
One ‘hapless’ player dealt 3/10 and five ‘clumsy’ 4s – Aston Villa ratings vs Crystal Palace
