Eagles in dreamland as they rout Aston Villa again to book themselves a third FA Cup final

Picture by @YTJourno

FA Cup semi-final

Crystal Palace (1) 3 Eze 31, Sarr 58, 94

Aston Villa (0) 0

The Eagles have landed.

A win every bit as comprehensive and unequivocal as the 4-1 rout Palace inflicted on Unai Emery's team at Selhurst Park not so long ago.

This was a perfectly executed performance that Eagles fans packed at the west end of this vast bowl won't forget in a hurry. They will want to bottle this and uncork it in all its glory when the final comes around on May 17.

Villa - Champions League quarter-finalists and top five contenders - were made to look so ordinary by Oli Glasner's inspired and well-drilled side. They had the collective shape and the individual excellence to get the job done. They could even afford to miss a penalty.

Their third FA Cup final now awaits and possibly their first ever piece of major silverware. They will fancy their chances, whether they have to confront Man City or Nottingham Forest in the final.

A first half brimming with those great individual and collective moments from Palace had its crowning moment just after the half hour mark when Ismailia Sarr's pace and power worked the ball towards the D for a waiting Eberechi Eze. The first-time hit that followed will go down as one of the classic Wembley goals - worthy of winning any match.

Eze has it in him to light up any match and the big occasion in particular. It was a golden moment for Palace fans to savour.

What came after that was significant. Palace wanted more. They were determined to keep their foot on the gas.

A blistering run from Jean-Philippe Mateta down the left ended in Sarr almost getting a decisive far-post header to the cross that came over from the Frenchman - then a superb flowing attack featuring Eze, Adam Wharton and Sarr, ended at the feet of Tyrick Mitchell, who could, and perhaps should, have put away for what would have been another Wembley goal for the ages.

Villa, so ordinary before the break, had to improve and twice Dean Henderson was called upon to stop Villa getting a foothold in the game. First he nervously palmed away a snap shot from John McGinn's unfavoured right foot, then he dived left to turn aside a shot from Lucas Digne from outside the box.

The importance of those moments were made clear almost immediately when Mateta slammed a penalty kick wide - the ball flicking off Emi Martinez's left hand post. The penalty had been won when Kamara crashed into Eze after Wharton's pass had exposed the Villa defence.

Martinez - the master of delaying penalty kicks and getting into the heads of takers, punched the air in glee, knowing this moment in the 53rd minute was a potential turning point. He had stood a yard off off his line before the kick - only retreating once ref Anthony Taylor had forced him to move back.

The Eagles quickly made sure it wasn't to be that turning point that Villa fans suddenly dreamed of it being.

When Wharton won possession in a dangerous position, Mateta flicked the ball on for Sarr, who raced on before firing low to Martinez's right. Instant redemption for the Frenchman.

It was the sort of day when even the usually unheralded players seemed to rise to the occasion. Daichi Kamada was a bundle of energy and good carries. He lifted a lovely pass onto the head of Sarr, six yards out, that ought to have been put away.

That was never going to be the last word from Sarr, however, and deep into injury time, the winger inflicted one more wound on a well-beaten Villa as he raced through onto a ball from Eddie Nketiah before coolly clipping past Martinez. It was a crowning moment the overall performance merited.

Eagles: (3-4-2-1) Henderson - Richards, Lacroix, Guehi - Munoz, Wharton (Hughes 88), Kamada, Mitchell (Chilwell 84) - Sarr, Eze (Lerma 88) - Mateta (Nketiah 79)

Villa: (4-2-3-1) Martinez - Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne (Maatsen 60) - McGinn (Bailey 60), Kamara (Barkley 69) - Rogers (Malen 79), Tielemans, Asensio (Ramsey 69) - Watkins

Attendance: 82,301