Key events
Aston Villa get the second half started. No changes. Yet.
Half-time punditry. Eberechi Eze’s strike was magnificent, a first-time power curler towards the top-left corner. But according to Wayne Rooney on the BBC, Emi Martinez has “got to save it.” The shot was within reach, that’s for sure, but perhaps that’s slightly harsh, so well was it struck. Still, it went near, if not quite through, him, so opinions will vary. If it does go down as a mistake, it’s the latest in a grim run for the Villa keeper, who has been recently questioned for his role in goals against PSG, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City. Additionally, Gary Lineker is sure the generous chalking-off of Jean-Philippe Mateta’s effort just before the goal was bogus. Rooney agrees, spluttering that if anything: “It’s a foul on Mateta!”
But never mind the BBC, because here comes our old friend Kári Tulinius: “After a first half hour mostly spent wondering who Crystal Palace’s most famous fan is (probably Eddie Izzard), the game really sprang into life. But during those thirty minutes I found my eye drawn to Wharton and Kamada. They harried Villa’s midfield, keeping them from finding a rhythm. If they can keep that up in the second half, I imagine Glasner will be a very happy fellow.”
HALF TIME: Crystal Palace 1-0 Aston Villa
It took a while to get going, but when it did … oooo-weee! Palace thoroughly deserve their half-time lead; they’ve been magnificent to watch going forward and could easily be one or two additional goals to the good. And yet Villa have had their chances up the other end as well. Great fun. What a cup semi!
45 min +1: The first of two extra minutes goes by without drama. The Villa defence is all over the shop.
45 min: Palace really should be 2-0 up now. Sarr is sent skittering into space down the right by Wharton. He cuts back for Mitchell, who simply has to sidefoot home, unmarked as he is on the penalty spot. But he takes a fresh-air swipe. It had to be a goal. The ball’s knocked out for a corner, from which nothing comes.
44 min: Tielemans sends a long pass down the inside-left channel. The ball breaks to McGinn, who curls a dangerous cross towards Konsa at the far stick. Konsa tries to emulate Keith Houchen’s career-defining work at this end of the stadium in 1987, but can’t connect with his diving header.
42 min: Konsa looks super-skittish this afternoon. He’s nearly robbed by Eze, 40 yards from his goal. He recovers his poise just in time, but still. The Villa defender – who was skinned by Mateta for that run on 39 mins – is far from his best so far.
40 min: Henderson’s save leads to another corner, which is blootered away unceremoniously by Lacroix. In a parallel universe, it’s 2-0 to Palace. In the one further on from that, it’s 1-1. This is great fun now!
39 min: Palace should be doubling their lead. Mateta steams down the left and stands one up for Sarr, who can’t get a header on target from six yards. Villa then counter and nearly equalise through Watkins, who is causing plenty of trouble down the left. His shot-cum-cross is deflected out for a corner, which leads to Konsa heading towards the bottom right. Henderson gets down to claw out just in time!
37 min: Mitchell and Guehi launch a pincer move on Rogers, who is trying to advance down the right. Rogers goes over and Mitchell accidentally plants his knee on the Villa man’s chin. Thankfully after the sting subsides, Rogers is fine to get up and continue, no serious harm done. But that’ll have hurt.
35 min: On the touchline, Unai Emery is no longer ranting and raving. He’s merely standing there shaking his head sadly. First PSG, then City midweek, now this. His side’s promising season is threatening to unravel at the business end. Plenty of time to fix things this afternoon though.
34 min: Villa try to respond immediately, Watkins working his way down the left to win a corner. From the set piece, Torres tries to make amends but his header floats harmlessly wide right.
32 min: That’s an absolutely sensational finish, albeit after more ponderous defensive work from Villa’s point of view. They got away with the Konsa-Mateta challenge; they didn’t get away with Torres’s poor clearance. They’re claiming a hand-ball as Sarr blocked, but no sir.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-0 Aston Villa (Eze 31)
… but it doesn’t matter, because Palace come back immediately at Villa, and take the lead! Torres clanks a clearance straight at Sarr, who barrels off down the right. He cuts infield and pulls back for Eze, who from the edge of the box, first-times a rising drive past Martinez and into the top right!
29 min: Mateta steals the ball off a snoozing Konsa, 30 yards from the Villa goal. He’s clear! He opens his body and slots past Martinez and into the bottom right. But the whistle goes for a foul. There was contact between the two players, but who kicked who, as Mateta was easing his man off the ball? The decision goes Villa’s way, and you can guess what Oliver Glasner thinks about it. It’s a soft one.
28 min: Eze heads a pass down the left for Mitchell, and now it’s Villa’s turn to make a meal of a low cross. Mateta is lurking and preparing to shoot when Konda misses the ball entirely, only for Digne to hook clear, just in time.
26 min: Asensio catches Kamada from behind near the centre circle. It’s late and clumsy, but seemingly not worthy of a booking. You’ve seen them given.
24 min: Villa should be leading. Digne makes a nuisance of himself down the left and curls a low cross into the mixer. Palace inexplicably let the ball bounce all the way through to Rogers, coming in from the right to meet it. Rogers attempts to steer a shot back across Henderson and into the bottom left, but sends it wide of the post. A really good chance goes begging.
22 min: Mitchell does very well to keep the ball in play while advancing down the left touchline. He eventually doubles back on himself near the halfway line, as Unai Emery goes ballistic in the technical area, convinced the ball had run out for a Villa throw. Not exactly a proportionate response, but such is the pressure of a major semi-final.
20 min: Asensio curls the free kick in from the right touchline. The Palace box heavily populated. Richards is forced to head behind for the first corner of the game. Asensio pings the corner from the right towards the near post, where it clanks off Tielemans and out for a goal kick.
19 min: Richards throws long from the right. Some head tennis in the Villa box before Digne clears. Villa counter through Rogers, who gets the better of Mitchell down the right. What speed! He’s about to bust clear towards the box when Mitchell tugs him back. That’s another no-brainer of a booking, and a free kick for Villa in a dangerous position, just to the right of the Palace box.
17 min: Mateta drives down the middle of the park, only to be upended by Kamara, sliding in from behind. You can tell referee Anthony Taylor is reluctant to flash an early yellow, but he realises he’s got no option. Kamara goes into the book.
16 min: Richards launches long. Mateta gets ahead of the Villa defence in a race towards the ball, but there’s too much juice on the pass and Mateta can’t reach the ball. Martinez is able to claim on the edge of the box.
14 min: Villa continue to hog the ball. Palace quite happy to sit back and observe.
12 min: The first shot in anger is taken by Kamara, a speculative effort from the best part of 30 yards. It sails a similar distance over the bar. Watkins, who was making a run across the face of the box, shoots his team-mate a glance.
11 min: It’s all Villa in terms of early possession. McGinn attempts to find Watkins down the left but Munoz holds his position and refuses permission to pass.
9 min: Watkins and Rogers try to get something going down the Villa right, a couple of cute flicks briefly threatening to open up the channel. But then Cash clips the heel of Guehi, needlessly so, and the whistle goes.
7 min: Still nowt going on. Villa being very patient, Palace happy to sit back and watch them knock it around the back. Everyone still in Party Mode nevertheless. Speaking of which … “Great move on the part of those Palace fans with flares, blinding their keeper and defence for a few minutes,” writes Pat. “Alanis Morrisette would have had a field day if Villa had scored through the fog.”
5 min: First the smoke, now an invasion of red balloons. The ref briefly pauses the match to allow Henderson to pop a few.
4 min: Other than that one progressive Kamara pass, nobody’s showing their hand as of yet. A thoughtful start as both teams gently probe.
2 min: Kamara tries to release Cash down the right with a clever first-time pass. Lacroix is on point to usher both opponent and ball out of play for a goal kick. We can just about make this out. A lot of smoke down this end of the pitch, thanks to the tail end of a pre-match pyro party.
Crystal Palace get the ball rolling. Glorious bedlam in the stands. Everyone excited, one step away from English football’s glamour showpiece.
The teams are out! Wembley bouncing with both sets of fans giving it their all. As the designated home team, Crystal Palace get to wear their first-choice colours … which used to be Aston Villa-inspired claret and blue, back in the distant mists of time, but are of course red and blue these days. Villa are in their all-white change strip as a result. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Oliver Glasner talks to the BBC. “We are all very excited and looking forward to this game … great atmosphere … fantastic stadium … great support from our fans … the kind of game everyone wants to play … we are in a good shape … we feel really well … let’s go … we have to perform at our top level … Villa doing so well in the Premier League and Champions League … we know how they play … discipline … focus … we will get chances … we have to wait for errors and we can score from them.”
… as does Unai Emery. “Massive respect for Palace … successful coach … they deserve to be here, playing in the semi-final … they are performing very well.” Emery also confirmed that Marcus Rashford is injured, though gave no more details other than his being not fit for today.
… but while recent results haven’t gone Villa’s way, other historical events serve them well. These two clubs have met on three previous occasions in the FA Cup, and Villa have got through each and every time. They beat Palace 5-0 in the third round in 1912-13, 4-3 in the third round in 1961-62, and 3-1 in a fifth-round replay in 2009-10. Villa went on to win the Cup in 1913, a little sepia-toned succour that balances things out nicely.
Click below for what happened the last time these teams met, at Selhurst Park almost exactly two months ago. That 4-1 thumping doesn’t augur well for Villa, who had to come from behind twice against Palace at Villa Park in November to force a 2-2 draw, having been knocked out of the League Cup by the Eagles the previous month. Palace also spanked Villa 5-0 on the final day of last season, so we can reasonably say they’ve got Unai Emery’s team’s number right now.
Crystal Palace make three changes to their first XI in the wake of their 2-2 draw at Arsenal. Jean-Philippe Mateta, Ismaïla Sarr and Chris Richards are in; Jefferson Lerma, Eddie Nketiah and Justin Devenny drop to the bench.
Aston Villa also make three changes to their starting XI, following their narrow 2-1 defeat at Manchester City. John McGinn, Ollie Watkins and Marco Asensio are back; Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey drop to the bench, while the injured Marcus Rashford misses out altogether.
The teams
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Richards, Lacroix, Guehi, Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell, Sarr, Eze, Mateta.
Subs: Turner, Ward, Lerma, Nketiah, Clyne, Hughes, Esse, Chilwell, Devenny.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, McGinn, Kamara, Rogers, Tielemans, Asensio, Watkins.
Subs: Olsen, Mings, Maatsen, Garcia, Barkley, Onana, Bailey, Malen, Ramsey.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).
Preamble
Aston Villa last won the FA Cup in 1957, 68 of your Earth years ago, and even that’s something of an outlier. Five of their other six wins came during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, so it’s not as though they’ve got much of a modern tradition in this competition to fall back on. Compare and contrast to Crystal Palace, who, despite never winning the FA Cup, arguably boast a better record in recent times. At least they came close to winning the competition in 1990 and 2016, giving it a good go in the final; Villa’s only two appearances in the final since that aforementioned Fifties triumph, in 2000 and 2015, were thundering non-events from their point of view. All of which is a long-winded way of saying that both of these clubs are desperate to reach this year’s final and put right some modern-day wrongs. Kick-off at Wembley is 5.15pm BST. It’s on!
