March 20, (THEWILL) – A 4-0 home win over Everton on Sunday afternoon, made Crystal Palace the second team to clinch their spot in the English FA Cup semi-finals.
The hosts cruised to victory after Frank Lampard’s team failed to capitalise on some early pressure. With a header, Marc Guehi got them moving, and Jean-Philippe Mateta doubled their lead soon after. Late in the second half, Wilfried Zaha and Will Hughes scored the third and fourth goals, respectively.
Palace got off to a jittery start, with the scent of pyrotechnics still hanging in the air following the home fans’ extravagant pre-game display. Richarlison benefited from a few miscues in the first few forays, but he was not clinical enough to capitalise.
Following this shaky start, Palace settled down and captain Guehi scored the game’s first goal. In a week in which he received his first senior England call-up, he leapt high at the front post to nod in Michael Olise’s cross.
Soon after, Palace should have made it 2-0. Mateta, a flank runner, pounced onto Joachim Andersen’s clearing and crossed to Zaha at the near post, but the Ivorian slammed it wide of the post from close range.
However, the Eagles would get a second before the break. Zaha made up for his earlier failure to provide Mateta with an assist by scoring a goal of his own. The most fouled player in Premier League history cut one back for the Palace target man to score first time after sneaking in behind the sluggish Toffees backline courtesy of Eberechi Eze’s assist.
After blustery strikes in the first half, the second half was considerably more subdued. Everton were increasingly irritated as Palace kept them at arm’s length, committing a number of fouls as their hosts attempted to counter-attack.
The first serious chance of the second half did not come until the 65th minute, when Demarai Gray luckily found himself in his space and fired an effort just wide of the post.
In strange circumstances, Palace ensured the result 12 minutes from time. Olise’s shot looped up strangely before hitting the post and falling to an unmarked Zaha, who tapped in, much to Jordan Pickford’s chagrin.
WIll Hughes, a substitute, then put gloss to the scoreline, scoring on the rebound to guarantee Lampard’s side left London with a thrashing for the second time this month.
While Palace prepares for the semi-final draw later today, Everton must return to their fight against relegation following the international break, hoping that their momentum gained from beating Newcastle in the league has not been squandered by this Cup loss
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
