Oliver Glasner has led Crystal Palace into the semi-finals of the FA Cup. His Eagles were extremely efficient at Fulham.
The first piece of good news for Crystal Palace was already visible when looking at the line-up. Mateta was back in the starting lineup after the former Mainz player suffered a serious facial injury in the round of 16 against Millwall. Because of the international break, Mateta only missed one game, but at Craven Cottage he wore a mask.
However, it was not Mateta who was named man of the match, but teammate Eze. The England international really turned on the heat after half an hour. On the left side of the box, Eze cut inside and perfectly hit the ball against the right inside post, sending it over the line. Leno in the Cottagers’ goal was powerless (34′).
Four minutes later, Eze walked down the left wing and found the head of Sarr with his cross, who scored from close range to make it 2-0 (38′). Crystal Palace almost made the game safe before half-time when Lerma’s direct shot from 17 meters hit the crossbar.
Nketiah makes the decision
Fulham tried hard after the restart, but Crystal Palace were simply too efficient this afternoon. Substitute Nketiah was put in by substitute Kamada, remained ice-cold in front of Leno and put the game to bed after 75 minutes.
The Eagles advanced to the semi-finals in commanding fashion. They now need just two more wins to clinch their first title since 1994. But first, they face a Premier League clash on Wednesday (8:45 p.m.) when Crystal Palace travel to bottom-placed Southampton.
