Crystal Palace reach the FA Cup final thanks to a valiant display at Wembley. Re-live a thriller with the best facts and Opta stats in our Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa stats page.
Crystal Palace have reached the FA Cup final for just the third time in their history thanks to an Ismaila Sarr-inspired 3-0 win over Aston Villa in Saturday’s semi-final at Wembley.
Although Palace ceded control to Villa for much of the game, Oliver Glasner’s side were clinical and highly effective when they needed to be, with Sarr almost unplayable.
In fact, on another day Palace’s win might’ve been even more comfortable given they had one strike harshly ruled out and also missed a penalty.
But Palace didn’t let those disappointments cloud their focus. Having been two goals up against Manchester City recently before losing 5-2, some might have questioned their mental strength – there were no cracks this time, however, eliminating Villa just as they did in the EFL Cup earlier this term.
Palace will return to Wembley for next month’s final as they seek their first ever FA Cup title.
Villa were fortunate to avoid falling behind just before the half-hour mark as Jean-Philippe Mateta was controversially deemed to have fouled Ezri Konsa prior to finishing past Emiliano Martínez.
But Palace didn’t have to wait much longer to make the breakthrough; Eberechi Eze firing home from 25 yards to punish Villa for a lack of threat despite early control.
And they should have been more alert to the presence of Eze given that strike was his ninth goal from outside the box in all competitions since the start of last season, more than any other Premier League player.
The goal did seem to bring out more urgency from Villa, finishing the first half as the stronger of the two sides – not that it counted for much.
They had another let-off early in the second half as Mateta saw his penalty hit the post and go wide following Boubacar Kamara’s clumsy foul on Eze, ending a run of four successfully converted penalties in a row for the Frenchman.
But again, Villa didn’t heed the warning.
Adam Wharton snapped into a tackle in midfield a few minutes later, zipping the ball to Mateta, who offloaded to Sarr and he found the bottom-left corner from distance.
That made Palace became the first team to score twice from outside the box in an FA Cup semi-final since Chelsea against Tottenham in April 2017.
Villa struggled to turn their sustained possessional dominance into clear-cut chances as Palace battled with such persistence – their efforts best summed up by the tirelessness of Mateta, whose six possession recoveries were more than any of his teammates prior to being withdrawn.
There was no sign of a dramatic late comeback from Villa, no hint of the game going to extra-time as Unai Emery’s men rarely looked a threat.
And then they were picked off at the end, Sarr racing clear to finish past the helpless Martínez.
Having also teed up Eze’s opener, that took Sarr to 10 goal involvements in all competitions against Villa, more than he’s tallied against any other club. Seven of those have come this season alone.
But while Sarr will likely steal many of the headlines, this was an exceptional team display as Palace blew Villa away, unable to cope with the intensity of the Eagles’ attack.
Villa’s wait for a first FA Cup final appearance since 2015 goes on, with Palace deserved victors as they await either Manchester City or Nottingham Forest.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa stats from their FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
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Crystal Palace 3-0 Aston Villa Stats: Sarr the Hero as Eagles Reach Only Third FA Cup Final Ever Opta Analyst.
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