Fulham 0 Crystal Palace 3: Ebere Eze’s magic sends Glasner’s side off to Wembley for FA Cup semi-final

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CRYSTAL PALACE produced a stunning FA Cup splash-and-grab to book a semi-final date at Wembley.

Jean-Philippe Mateta – donning his water polo-inspired protective headguard – barely made a ripple on his Eagles return.

Ebere Eze of Crystal Palace celebrates a goal.

Ebere Eze’s magic sent Crystal Palace into the FA Cup semi-final[/caption]

Eberechi Eze scoring a goal during a soccer match.

He curled a superb finish in off the far post at Craven Cottage[/caption]

Instead, Eberechi Eze and Ismaila Sarr stepped up to grab two goals in four first-half minutes, blowing a stunned Fulham out the water at Craven Cottage.

A third goal against the run of play in the 75th minute sealed it thanks to second-half sub Eddie Nketiah.

Marco Silva – enjoying his 500th game in management – will be scratching his head for weeks at this scoreline, shocked by how his Fulham boys failed to see this one out after such a dominant but toothless showing.

The Portuguese coach will also be wondering what might have been had Adam Wharton received a second yellow for a 22nd-minute kick-out at Rodrigo Muniz.

For now, Fulham’s 50-year wait to reach a domestic cup final goes on. Meanwhile, Austrian boss Oliver Glasner’s hero status in South London has hit new heights.

The Selhurst faithful will genuinely be believing this is finally their time in the most open FA Cup for years – even if they were outplayed for large parts on the banks of the Thames.

Mateta’s comeback was another positive for Palace and Glasner – the Frenchman making his first appearance since requiring 25 stitches in his left ear after being hit with a horrific kung-fu kick by Millwall keeper Liam Roberts in the fifth round on March 1.

A bizarre-looking headband covering the ear made its debut. Glasner joked in the build-up he looked like a water polo star, while his team-mates compared Mateta to a WWE wrestler.

Unsurprisingly, he looked rusty and leggy, unable to add to his 15 goals in all competitions so far this term in this 69-minute outing, with chances few and far between for the visitors.

Silva also made a big decision, bringing in Muniz to lead the line after his impressive goal-scoring display to down Tottenham in the Premier League before the international break, dropping Raul Jimenez to the bench.

The early signs were promising. Inside the opening two minutes, Muniz outmuscled Marc Guehi, nipped past Maxence Lacroix and curled just wide of Dean Henderson’s far post.

The Cottage was rocking. The noise was sensational. White and black flags had draped the stands before kick-off while red and blue balloons bounced around the away end.

Early kick-offs in the cup are often recipes for tame, muted affairs, but this one – smothered in sunshine – had the feel of a final. Both sides recognised what a chance this was.

Fulham continued to pile on the pressure, suffocating Palace. Sander Berge’s long-range shot was deflected wide by the hand of a lunging Jefferson Lerma. VAR weren’t fussed.

Muniz then sent a header from a corner straight into the arms of Henderson. The visitors were struggling for a solution. Mateta cut an isolated, frustrated figure.

He almost got his chance as Sarr skipped in front of Calvin Bassey on the edge of his box – only for his cut-back to be comfortably dealt with.

It seemed inevitable Fulham would score. Bassey, this time rampaging forward, made the most of a mistimed Guehi clearance but his tee-up for Andreas Pereira was wasted.

Fulham vs. Palace match stats infographic.

89 mins played, 31 touches, 8 passes, 1 shot, 1 goal, 1 assist. Heatmap shows ball locations.

Soon after, Wharton kicked out at Muniz off the ball in the middle of the pitch, having already picked up a yellow for wiping out Willian in the 14th minute.

Ref Darren England, surrounded by furious Fulham players, opted to give Wharton the benefit of the doubt. In hindsight, it was a huge let-off for Palace, one they would take advantage of.

Lerma had just smacked the bar with an audacious volley, and in the 34th minute, Eze was given too much space to cut in off the left and curl a beauty in off the post from 25 yards, shushing the home fans with a smile.

Palace’s cup king, four of Eze’s last five goals have come away from the Prem.

Shell-shocked and downbeat, Fulham’s reaction could not have been worse, backing off Eze yet again, this time the England international going on the outside and getting a cross in.

Sarr had wriggled free of Bassey’s grasp for the simplest of flicked headed finishes.

In truth, Fulham never looked like getting back into it from there. Palace were beginning to enjoy themselves, especially Wharton, suptuously pirouetting on the ball around two players just before the break.

The Cottage demanded an almighty response, a memorable comeback. They received neither. The air had been let out of Fulham’s FA Cup balloon.

Their second-half highlight included a deflected Willian effort off Wharton that was palmed away by Henderson and a subsequent goalmouth scramble from a corner that Bassey somehow failed to convert.

Sticking to the script of the day, Palace then struck against the run of play once more, Nketiah – who had replaced Mateta – slipped in down the left and poking a cute finish through the legs of his old Arsenal pal Bernd Leno.