Sarr and Eze send Crystal Palace soaring past Aston Villa into FA Cup final

Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates. PHOTO: REUTERS

UPDATED Apr 27, 2025, 04:03 AM

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LONDON - Crystal Palace outplayed Aston Villa as they soared into the FA Cup final for only the third time with two brilliant goals by Ismaila Sarr and a stunner by Eberechi Eze sealing a 3-0 victory in an entertaining clash at Wembley on April 26.

Palace’s fans, dreaming of a first major trophy in the south London club’s 119-year history, cranked up the volume from the first minute and were rewarded in thrilling fashion as the Eagles moved one win away from delivering silverware.

England forward Eze put Palace ahead in the 31st minute with a sweetly-struck right-foot shot from just outside the penalty area after being picked out by the irrepressible Sarr.

Tyrick Mitchell spurned a glorious chance to make it 2-0 just before halftime and when Jean-Phillipe Mateta blazed a penalty wide shortly after the restart Palace might have feared they would be made to pay by their Premier League rivals.

But lacklustre Villa could not cope with Palace’s relentless energy and Sarr then sent a long-range low drive past Emiliano Martinez just before the hour to put his side firmly in control.