Crystal Palace progressed to the semi-final of the FA Cup after a comfortable 3-0 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Eberechi Eze, Ismaila Sarr and substitute Eddie Nketiah grabbed the goals as Oliver Glasner’s side, who have been mightily impressive during the second-half of the season, marched onto the last four with an assured performance in west London.
On a day that saw the return of striker Jean-Philippe Mateta after injury in the previous round against Millwall, the south Londoners survived some early Fulham pressure to progress with relative ease.
Marco Silva’s team gave their home support very little to shout about as their focus now turns to challenging for a Premier League top-four finish.
🙏#CPFC pic.twitter.com/eqYY0H5Epq
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) March 29, 2025
How the action unfolded
An electric atmosphere at Craven Cottage greeted the two teams onto the pitch. And their enthusiasm was nearly rewarded inside two minutes when Rodrigo Muniz, given the nod over Raul Jimenez in attack by Marco Silva, jinked into the Palace penalty box.
But the Brazilian could not apply the finish, curling his left-footed effort the wrong side of the post.
Muniz’s compatriot Andreas Pereira then failed to convert when he sent a shot wide of the goal after some fine work from Calvin Bassey in the build-up.
Adam Wharton was perhaps fortunate not be given his marching orders when he appeared to kick out at Muniz just minutes after picking up a yellow card.
Palace had offered very little threat very little in the opening exchanges. So it came largely against the run of play when they went closest to taking the lead, Jefferson Lerma crashing a sublime volley against the crossbar with Bernd Leno well beaten in the Fulham goal.
But if mere inches denied the away fans a special FA Cup moment, that would all be forgotten moments later when Eze picked up the ball on the left-hand side. The England man, who scored his first senior international goal on Monday, cut inside and bent a sumptuous strike into the far corner to give Palace the lead.
The Eagles were soaring. Less than five minutes after putting his side in front, Eze again had the ball on the left. This time the Palace number 10 turned provider, delivering a teasing cross which was met by the head of Sarr to double the south Londoner’s advantage.
Two goals in four minutes!
⚽ Eberechi Eze
⚽ Ismaila SarrPalace are looking good for a place in the FA Cup semi-finals 🏆#FULCRY #FACup pic.twitter.com/kpSH0Z2Nae
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 29, 2025
Silva sent out his players early for after the break but Fulham struggled to give anything for their fans to shout about.
They did begin the second-half with more intent but did little to really test Dean Henderson in the Palace goal.
The visitors, meanwhile, seemed content to soak up the pressure and see out the game. On 70-minutes, Glasner freshened things up with the introduction of Eddie Nketiah and Daichi Kamada, and the changes paid off almost immediately.
Bassey stepped up trying to play offside but Kamada’s pass to Nketiah was timed to perfection and the former Arsenal man made no mistake, slipping the ball through Leno’s legs to all but assure Palace’s place at Wembley.
