CRYSTAL Palace booked their place at Wembley with a 3-0 win away against Fulham in the FA Cup quarter-finals, reports Lyle-Anthony Golding from Craven Cottage.
First half goals from Eberechi Eze and Ismaïla Sarr against the run of play gave the Eagles a healthy lead entering the break before the substitute Eddie Nketiah put the game to bed late on to ensure Palace made it back-to-back wins at Craven Cottage.
Fresh off a lengthy international break, the first of the FA Cup quarterfinals of the weekend was a London derby between the Lilywhites and the Eagles.
Fulham’s last outing was an impressive 2-0 victory at home to Tottenham, and they were eager for club football to resume so they could look to build on this form. They made two changes from the team that secured that victory, with Rodrigo Muniz and Saša Lukić both starting.
Foxes undone by Crystal Palace fightback
The visitors last played a competitive fixture exactly three weeks before this crucial cup tie, but they entered this matchup on a four-game win streak, which began last month in this very stadium with a 2-0 win. They made one alteration to their last lineup with the returning Jean-Philippe Mateta having recovered from his scary head injury in their last FA Cup tie.
Bouyed by the crowd, the hosts flew out of the blocks and Muniz nearly had the opening goal within three minutes. He picked up the ball just outside the box before bulldozing past three Palace players, but his shot didn’t have enough curl to bend into the far post.
The Fulham pressure was palpable in the opening stages, with Craven Cottage at times rumbling with anticipation. Muniz found himself amongst it often, with his 11th-minute header being comfortable for Dean Henderson to handle.
Palace continued to hang on for dear life, and in the 18th minute, Calvin Bassey went on an adventure from centre half. He drove into the opposition box before finding Andreas Pereira with a cut-back, but the Brazilian dragged his shot narrowly wide.
In a flash, the scene nearly changed when a Fulham clearance looped into the vicinity of Jefferson Lerma, and without a second thought, he unleashed a gorgeous strike with the outside of his boot, which curled onto the crossbar. Leno was beaten.
Just after the hour mark, the hosts were indeed made to pay for their lack of conviction in front of goal.
A looping diagonal to the left side found Tyrick Mitchell, who then played it into the feet of Eze. He glided into the central area just outside the box and lasered a strike in off the far post to give his side the lead against the run of play.
Things went from bad to worse in an instant, and not even five minutes after the first goal, Leno was made to pick the ball out of his net once again.
No surprises that Eze was involved, he tracked the ball down near the corner flag and sauntered towards the edge of the box before picking out the head of Sarr, who had the simplest of tasks.
Similarly to the first 45, Fulham asserted dominance over possession in the early stages after the restart, but very few chances came from it.
As time continued to pass, Palace became more comfortable in their position as they defended brilliantly against everything the Cottagers had thrown at them up to the hour mark.
However, the hosts still had energy. Willian picked up the ball on the edge of the box before firing off a deflected shot which was met at full stretch by Henderson to deny him. The resulting corner was played devilishly into the six-yard box but despite Bassey’s best efforts, it was cleared at the last moment by Palace.
Whatever life they might’ve had left was snuffed out with 15 minutes to play. Palace nicked the ball high up the pitch, and it was the two substitutes who would combine. Daichi Kamada slid a perfectly weighted ball in behind for Nketia,h who faced up Leno before finishing it underneath the flailing German. The Eagles were soaring and their fans bouncing in the stands, singing all the way to Wembley.
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