Crystal Palace comfortably beat Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage to keep their dreams of a first FA Cup win alive.
It was an Eberechi Eze masterclass in the first half that sent the Eagles on their way to Wembley.
A piece of individual brilliance from Eze saw Palace take the lead after he curled an effort into the bottom corner from outside of the area. He was at the heart of Palace’s second moments later after his delightful cross was headed in by Ismaïla Sarr.
Palace wrapped up the quarter-final tie in the second half courtesy of well-taken strike from substitute Eddie Nketiah.
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As it happened
The home side almost got off to a perfect start inside two minutes. Rodrigo Muniz had bullied his way into the box after fending off challenges from Marc Guéhi and Maxence Lacroix, but his curling effort travelled just past the post.
After netting in the fifth round against Manchester United, it was Calvin Bassey who almost set up the opener for the Cottagers following a brilliant burst into the box. The centre-back pulled the ball back for Andreas Pereira, but the Brazilian midfielder failed to get a clean shot off at goal and his effort dragged just wide.
For all of Fulham’s early possession, it was the away side that came closest to scoring the opener. They tried a clever free-kick routine but Alex Iwobi was alert to clear the danger; his clearance fell to Jefferson Lerma who struck a spectacular volley from 35-yards out on the outside of his foot, only to be denied by the crossbar.
In the 33rd minute, Oliver Glasner’s side eventually broke the deadlock after a moment of magic from Eberechi Eze. The Palace number 10 picked up the ball on the left side of the area, dropped his shoulder on Saša Lukić, and bent a brilliant effort off the post into the bottom corner.
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Five minutes later and Palace had incredibly doubled their lead. Eze was instrumental yet again – the England international was released down the left wing and clipped in a perfect cross on his left foot for Ismaïla Sarr. The Senegalese got across Bassey and glanced his header into the back of the net past Bernd Leno.
In the second half, Fulham searched for a way back into the tie but struggled to beat a determined Palace backline. Their best spell of pressure came just after the hour mark when Willian cut inside and forced Dean Henderson into a diving save. From the resulting corner, Joachim Andersen’s flick on couldn’t be converted by Bassey after a goalmouth scramble in the six-yard box.
In the 74th minute, Eddie Nketiah made an instant impact off the bench for the Eagles. The striker timed his run to perfection and, with plenty of time and space in the box, he squeezed the ball through the legs of Leno to seal the win for Crystal Palace.
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Oliver’ Glasner’s side have now won five games in a row in all competitions and will be optimistic about their chances of winning a first major trophy in the club’s history. For Fulham, their wait for silverware goes on but their attention will immediately turn to the Premier League where they are within a chance of securing European qualification.
The lineups
FUL: Leno; Robinson, Bassey, Andersen, Castagne; Lukić, Berge; Willian, Pereira, Iwobi; Muniz
CRY: Henderson; Mitchell, Guéhi, Lacroix, Richards, Muñoz; Lerma, Wharton; Eze, Mateta, Sarr