Crystal Palace secured their place in the FA Cup semi-finals by dismantling Fulham at Craven Cottage in a 3-0 victory.

It was the home side who started the match the better of the two teams, however, despite Fulham’s bright start, it was Palace who almost found the opening goal in the 26th minute. The ball fell to Jefferson Lerma around 25 yards out, and without hesitation, the Colombian volleyed his strike first time and saw his attempt cannon off the crossbar. Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno was completely beaten, and he was fortunate Lerma’s strike didn’t go in, as it would be featured on highlight reels for years to come.

Just eight minutes after Lerma’s ambitious effort, Eberechi Eze unleashed an ambitious effort of his own, and his shot curled absolutely perfectly into the back of the net after striking the inside of the post. Throughout the game, up to this point, Fulham probably played the better football, but it was the visitors who made their attempts count and found themselves in an important 1-0 lead.

Four minutes later, Eze found himself at the heart of play yet again and provided an assist to double Palace’s lead and give them a two-goal lead in the FA Cup quarter-final. The England international picked up the ball down the left wing and got himself into a good area and put a dangerous cross into the box which was met by Ismaila Sarr, who headed home from close range to put his side in an important lead in such a high-stakes match.

The first half ended 2-0 to Palace despite Fulham arguably being the more controlled of the two sides.

In the 68th minute, Fulham were very close to finding their way back into the match, but a brilliant block by Sarr kept his side’s two-goal lead.

The second half was closely contested up until the 75th minute when the substitute, Eddie Nketiah, secured Palace’s place at Wembley just five minutes after replacing Jean-Philippe Mateta. Nketiah found space in behind the Fulham defence and slotted a calm finish past Bernd Leno to finish off another lethal Palace counter attack.

Nketiah’s tidy finish was the last action of the match and Crystal Palace secured their place in the hat for an FA Cup semi-final tie at Wembley Stadium.

Match Highlights

Fulham Player Ratings

GK: Bernd Leno – 5/10

Couldn’t really do anything to stop Palace’s goals as they were all well-worked goals which were finished off with conviction.

RB: Timothy Castagne – 5.5/10

Had a really tough afternoon up against Eze and came out second-best most times they encountered.

CB: Joachim Andersen – 7/10

Although it was hit and miss, the Dane’s passing caused problems for Palace. As well as having good passing out of defence, Andersen was decent defensively and couldn’t do anything about Palace’s goals.

CB: Calvin Bassey – 6.5/10

Surprisingly, Fulham’s biggest attacking threat in the first half. Bassey made a lot of dangerous runs forward out of defence while also staying disciplined and solid defensively.

LB: Antonee Robinson – 7/10

Performed well considering he was battling a knock coming into the match. The American was good on the ball and solid defensively but couldn’t last any longer than 71 minutes.

CM: Sander Berge – 7.5/10

Really good in possession of the ball and was an important figure in the middle of the park, both offensively and defensively.

CM: Sasa Lukic – 5.5/10

Aggressive in midfield but didn’t really contribute much to the match and was brought off after 64 minutes.

AM: Andreas Pereira – 5/10

Despite putting in a few dangerous balls throughout the match, for the most part, Pereira was wasteful in possession and stalled a lot of Fulham’s attacks.

RW: Alex Iwobi – 5/10

Really wasteful in possession of the ball and just like Pereira, he halted a lot of his side’s attacks.

ST: Rodrigo Muniz – 7/10

Had a really good physical battle against the Palace backline and held his own and had good hold-up and link-up play despite playing against three centre-backs.

LW: Willian – 6/10

Saw a lot of the ball down the left flank but didn’t really do much with it aside from putting in a few good crosses.

SUB: Adama Traore – 6/10

Threatened as he always does with his pace and strength but his end product lacked quality.

SUB: Emile Smith-Rowe – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Raul Jimenez – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Ryan Sessegnon – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Tom Cairney – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

Crystal Palace Player Ratings

GK: Dean Henderson – 7/10

Made a few really good saves to keep Palace in the match.

RWB: Daniel Munoz – 7.5/10

Energetic all throughout the match and even though he didn’t have as much attacking output as he normally does, Munoz had a good performance all-round.

CB: Chris Richards – 7/10

Did well to help out Munoz defensively up against Willian and physically held his own when defending against Muniz.

CB: Maxence Lacroix – 7.5/10

Threatened in the air from set pieces and crosses. The Frenchman was disciplined and calm in defence and galvanised his backline when they were under pressure.

CB: Marc Guehi – 7.5/10

Physically dominant and like Lacroix, brought his side together when they were under pressure.

LWB: Tyrick Mitchell – 8/10

A brilliant box-to-box performance. Mitchell didn’t stop running all throughout the match and contributed just as much going forward as he did defensively.

CM: Jefferson Lerma – 7/10

Nearly scored one of the greatest FA Cup goals ever with his volleyed attempt in the first half. Despite his attempt being close but unsuccessful, Lerma went on to put in a good performance as he worked hard and kept Palace compact and hard to break down.

CM: Adam Wharton – 7.5/10

Looked like he was playing the match at a different pace to the Fulham players at times. Wharton’s ability to evade the press and carry the ball was outstanding and he had a very clean and easy-on-the-eye performance.

RW: Ismaila Sarr – 7.5/10

Didn’t have that much involvement in the match but still managed to get on the scoresheet.

ST: Jean-Philippe Mateta – 5.5/10

Was kept quiet by the Fulham centre-backs, subsequently being brought off after 70 minutes for Nketiah.

LW: Eberechi Eze (Man of the Match) – 8.5/10

The best player on the pitch by an absolute mile. Eze had the beating of every player who stepped up to defend against him and he made them pay each and every time. The England international’s goal was beautiful and he also provided a perfect assist for Sarr.

SUB: Eddie Nketiah – 7.5/10

Made an instant impact by replacing Mateta and securing Palace’s place at Wembley

SUB: Daichi Kamada – 7.5/10

Provided the assist for Nketiah’s goal and slotted into the match seamlessly after replacing Wharton.

SUB: Nathaniel Clyne – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Justin Devenny – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Matheus Franca – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.