A south Londoner takes Crystal Palace to the brink of history – how fitting ...Middle East

Crystal Palace 2-0 Aston Villa (Eze 31′, Sarr 58′, 90+4′)

WEMBLEY — Eberechi Eze has never lifted a major trophy. Neither have Crystal Palace for that matter. But now they are both on the brink.

The FA Cup final awaits for Palace, who have been there twice before. They lost in 1990, and again in 2016, and while they will be underdogs on 17 May – whether they face Manchester City or Nottingham Forest – they were underdogs here but still got the better of a dishevelled Aston Villa.

And that was largely thanks to Eze, Palace’s man for the big occasion who has so often been their talisman since joining from QPR in 2020.

The Greenwich-born 26-year-old has been developing decent habits of late. Not only is he getting used to scoring screamers, but also scoring at Wembley, having netted his first for England at this storied stadium last month.

EBERE EZE. THAT IS INCREDIBLE.

An unbelievable goal from the @CPFC and @England magician #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/SD364TWvBF

— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) April 26, 2025

On this occasion it was a fierce strike that broke the deadlock in the semi-final after 31 minutes, and while Jean-Philippe Mateta’s penalty miss then gave Villa hope, Ismaila Sarr scored a sumptuous second to all-but seal Palace’s place in the final.

Then it was confirmed. Eze, rightly, was named man of the match, walking off to a huge ovation from the Palace half of Wembley with minutes to go before Sarr scored his second in injury time to take this victory from convincing to emphatic.

Villa are therefore left licking their wounds and fighting for a place in the Champions League next season. In that regard, they are lagging behind, while they will also be sick of the sight of Palace, who knocked them out of the Carabao Cup in October and recently beat them 4-1 in the league to boot.

This one will hurt most of all, though, with Villa’s own wait for a major trophy set to reach 30 years, their last triumph coming in the League Cup in 1996.

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Villa enjoyed more of the ball early on but had little to show for it, struggling to cut through an organised Palace side defending in front of their own supporters.

Palace fans had brought the flares inside Wembley, and while that led to smoke initially, it was Eberechi Eze who brought the spark.

Eze had scored 34 minutes into Palace’s quarter-final at Fulham to bring that game to life. This time it was 31 minutes, with the England international firing from inside the D and leaving Emiliano Martinez flapping at thin air.

The fierce effort saw Villa concede from their first shot on target once more, the 22nd time this season, while Pau Torres was guilty of losing the ball to gift Palace possession.

“Eze is in a good position, and it is a good strike, but the ‘keeper has got to save it,” Wayne Rooney said on BBC at half-time.

Whether Martinez could have saved it perhaps doesn’t do the pace of Eze’s justice, and on balance it was deserved after Jean-Philippe Mateta had just seen a goal disallowed for supposedly fouling Ezri Konsa in the build-up.

After the break, Dean Henderson was on hand to deny Villa twice, keeping out John McGinn’s effort before flying to his left to save Lucas Digne’s strike from distance.

Villa were pressing but it was Palace who had a chance to go two clear, Eze earning the penalty after being fouled by Boubacar Kamara, only for Mateta to then shave the woodwork.

Martinez pointed to the sky as if he’d saved it, the Villa goalkeeper not one to shy away from theatrics, but less than 10 minutes later he was on his knees again, unable to keep Sarr’s strike out.

Villa looked rocked and the Palace end was rocking. They brought the noise to this semi-final, never shutting up. They’ll do so again in three weeks’ time, and whether they face City or Forest, no one will count them out, especially with Eze in the side.

He has brought the magic for Palace in the FA Cup, and now he is 90 minutes away from writing his name into the club’s history books. As are the whole of this steely-focused squad who look so desperate for silverware, and are so close to touching it.

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