Crystal Palace outplayed Aston Villa as they reached the FA Cup final for only the third time with two brilliant goals by Ismaila Sarr and another by Eberechi Eze sealing a 3-0 victory at Wembley on Saturday.
Palace’s fans, dreaming of a first major trophy in the south London club’s 119-year history, cranked up the volume from the first minute and were rewarded in thrilling fashion.
England forward Eze put Palace ahead in the 31st minute with sweetly-struck right-footed shot from just outside the penalty area after being picked out by the irrepressible Sarr.
Tyrick Mitchell spurned a glorious chance to make it 2-0 just before halftime and when Jean-Phillipe Mateta blazed a penalty wide shortly after the restart Palace might have feared they would be made to pay by their Premier League rivals.
But Villa simply could not cope with Palace’s relentless energy and Sarr then sent a long-range low drive past Emiliano Martinez just before the hour to put his side firmly in control.
Sarr then broke clear in stoppage time and finished in style to send Palace’s fans into delirium.
Palace will discover their final opponents on Sunday when Manchester City take on Nottingham Forest.
