Touching Oliver Glasner moment symbolises Eberechi Eze impact as Crystal Palace reach Wembley | OneFootball

Head coach made sure to let his star man know his worth

Oliver Glasner substituted Eberechi Eze in the 90th minute and rather than a swift pat on the back, given to others who’d come off, the Eagles boss instead placed an arm round his player’s shoulder and delivered words of thanks to the man who had sent Crystal Palace to Wembley.

His confidence suitably sky-high five days after he notched his first international goal for England, Eze had inspired Palace’s 3-0 rout of Fulham by the riverside, scoring a pearler to break the deadlock and then, five minutes later, laying on a plate for Ismaila Sarr to make it two.

At half-time, one Fulham supporter could be heard lamenting: “Do not let Eze have that much space on the edge of the area.” Alas, Fulham had. They were 2-0 down, and it would get worse, not better.

Palace’s last six away results in all competitions are five 2-0 wins and this 3-0 cruise to Wembley. They are becoming the clean-sheet kings, and centre-back Maxence Lacroix basked in that glory, punching the air at the Eagles faithful, sinking in a victory that makes them FA Cup semi-finalists for the first time since 2022.

The Premier League’s aspirational middle class were supposed to be benefitting from playing fewer games than their so-called ‘Big Six’ rivals (lesser cup runs, many of them not in Europe), and yet here was as wide open a quarter-final draw as you could remember. Besides Championship Preston were Aston Villa, Brighton, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest — social climbers in the league who’ve managed to juggle that with having a pop at the cup.

Palace and Fulham belong firmly in that list, too. Only the former, though, has an FA Cup semi-final to ink into the calendar.

Basking: Eberechi Eze

AFP via Getty Images

Fulham have become a shrewd outfit under Marco Silva but were such a blunt instrument in this sunlit Saturday lunchtime kick-off at Craven Cottage, paying for their particularly vacuous possession. With their 71 per cent lion’s share of it, how little they actually threatened Dean Henderson's goal. Rodrigo Muniz’s second-minute effort, curled wide, was about as good as it got.

Silva shoved Raul Jimenez on to partner Muniz up front with 20 minutes to go, an act of desperation, yet instead of it turning Fulham’s fortunes around it was followed, four minutes later, by a different substitute striker — Eddie Nketiah, only just on — turning a stellar afternoon into an unforgettable one for Palace. He rolled under Bernd Leno for 3-0.

That applied some polish to an already glossy scoreline for Palace, but the meat of the work had been done before the interval — spearheaded by the irrepressible Eze. He’s all too often been a six-and-a-half out of 10 this season for Palace, on the periphery of things while others around him bear the brunt of the responsibility.

Not here. The masked Jean-Philippe Mateta was very quiet; Adam Wharton was booked early and unusually wasteful. Eze, however, was dancing in the sun, skipping into the centre of things off the lefthand side and bending the opener in off the post. It was his determination to keep the ball from going out for a throw-in, five minutes later, that allowed him up the line to hoick across for Sarr’s header.

Fulham were uncharacteristically craven. For Palace, whatever happens from here, this cup run has taken them to Wembley.