Crystal Palace seal trip to Wembley after thumping win against Everton

Crystal Palace progress through to the FA Cup semi-finals after beating Everton 4-0 at Selhurst Park.

Marc Guehi opened the scoring in the 25th minute as he headed in from Michael Olise’s corner before Jean-Philippe Mateta doubled the host’s lead before the break with his finish from inside the box.

Wilfried Zaha then scored a third from close range after Olise’s looping effort hit the post, before Hughes made it game, set and match three minutes from time courtesy of his tap in.

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Everton’s hard work early on undone

Everton were the better side in the opening 20 minutes or so as they showed a lot of attacking intent. Michael Keane was close to putting the Toffees in front in the opening two minutes, but he couldn’t quite get on the end of a low ball towards the back post.

There were then calls from the visitors for a penalty as Richarlison appeared to go down in the box under the challenge of Guehi but play continued. Mason Holgate was next to have an attempt at goal, but his header went over the bar.

Richarlison continued the Everton dominance as he fired a shot over the bar, but their control of the game was soon lost when Andros Townsend went down injured on the byline. He was unable to continue and was replaced by Demarai Gray.

Palace soon worked themselves into the game, and Eberechi Eze had their first sight on goal, but his effort was weak and collected by Jordan Pickford. However, they took the lead just five minutes later through captain Guehi.

He was able to rise highest amongst those in the box and head in from Olise’s corner, capping off a great week for the 21-year-old after his call up to the England squad on Thursday. Zaha could and probably should have made it 2-0 just eight minutes later, but his shot from Mateta’s low ball hit the side netting.

Despite the wasted effort, Palace scored their second through Mateta. This time, the roles were reversed with Zaha setting up the Frenchman, who netted low past Toffees ‘keeper Pickford. When halftime came around, it already looked as though it was job done for Palace.

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Palace comfortable seal their trip to Wembley

Frank Lampard brought on Dominic Calvert-Lewin for Jonjoe Kenny to add more attacking presence into Everton’s play. However, it was Palace who were on the front foot from the beginning of the second half.

Olise was causing all sorts of problems for the Toffees down the right, with Zaha doing the same on the left flank. Everton were struggling to create any real chances going forward in the opening minutes of the second 45, with the Eagles keen to score their third at every opportunity.

Crosses from Mason Holgate and Seamus Coleman failed to cause much trouble for the hosts’ defence, with Gray having their best chance of the game as his shot went wide of the post after he did well to turn his man outside the box.

Lampard’s side showed some improvement as Richarlison was able to get a header on target, but it was easily caught by Butland, who had a relatively easy day in goal for the Eagles. Substitute Odsonne Edouard soon laid the ball off to Olise, but his effort was high and wide.

It would be much of the same for the next few minutes; Everton were beginning to show more life in their attacks but Palace dealt with the limited danger. Zaha made a good run into the box but took too long to get his shot away.

However, the Ivorian was on hand to score just moments later. An Olise shot looped over the box and hit the post, and with Zaha there in the right place at the right time; he converted from close range past Pickford. With three minutes remaining, Palace made it 4-0, with substitute Will Hughes able to tap the ball in after Gallagher’s shot was saved from inside the area.

That would be the final key moment of the match and the nail in the coffin for Everton’s FA Cup journey. Despite their late winner against Newcastle United in the week, they could not muster the same determination as they had at Goodison Park and were well beaten in south London.

Palace will now make the trip to Wembley for the semi-finals, where they will play Chelsea on the weekend of 16/17 April.

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