FA Cup recall: A look at Crystal Palace’s road to Wembley final clash v Man City

Crystal Palace will take on Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday, May 17.

Oliver Glasner’s Eagles soared past Aston Villa in the semi-finals, securing a 3-0 win in a dominant display against the Midlanders.

Pep Guardiola’s Man City troops then toppled Nottingham Forest to book their place in the final.

Here, Sports News Blitz Academy writer and Palace fan Max Snigorski takes a look at his team’s road to the Wembley final, analysing who they beat on their way…

Crystal Palace 1-0 Stockport County, 12th January, 2025

The Eagles’ first match in the FA Cup was a marginal victory over a League One Stockport.

The game saw Palace’s danger man Eberechi Eze give Crystal Palace the decisive goal in the fourth minute with a rifled shot into the far bottom corner after a poor clearance inside the box from Stockport's Odin Bailey.

However, this game was not as easy as expected for Palace. Underdogs Stockport were showing threat moving forward and Stockport forward Kyle Wootton was denied an open goal by Crystal Palace captain Marc Guéhi.

Palace severely underperformed in front of goal with four big chances throughout the game and all four being missed.

Colombia international and Crystal Palace defensive midfielder Jefferson Lerma was guilty of completely missing the target after drawing the Stockport goalkeeper out of position.

The Eagles dominated the tempo and flow of the game with 75% possession and 592 passes compared to Stockport’s 143 passes, but did not reflect their dominance on the scoreline and kept it much closer than needed.

Doncaster Rovers 0-2 Crystal Palace, 10th February, 2025

The Eco-Power Stadium saw League Two side Doncaster Rovers welcome Crystal Palace in the FA Cup’s fourth round.

Crystal Palace’s first goal came from Jean-Phillipe Mateta’s shot that struck the post before finding its way to Colombia star Daniel Muñoz for a simple tap-in to give Palace a deserved lead.

The second half saw Will Hughes intercept Molyneux’s pass before a perfect-lofted pass into the path of midfielder Justin Devenny, who calmly chipped goalkeeper Sharman-Lowe to double Palace’s lead.

After this goal, Doncaster came close to closing up the scoreline with 12 shots throughout the second half but not one beat Matt Turner in goal.

Overall, a closer game for Glasner’s Eagles, but a much-needed improvement in finishing saw them see off a lower quality Doncaster Rovers to book a place with Millwall in the next round.

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Crystal Palace 3-1 Millwall, March 1, 2025

Palace were at home for the fifth-round tie against South London rivals Millwall, and humiliated the Championship side at Selhurst Park.

The first key moment of the game was presented through another Will Hughes lofted ball behind the Millwall defence.

As Mateta chased it down, Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts darted off his goal line and studded the side of Mateta’s face in an attempt for the ball.

The horrific challenge earned Roberts a straight red card and saw Mateta rushed to the nearest hospital.

In the 33rd minute, Eze caught a loose ball in the Millwall box before passing to an unmarked Hughes on the edge of the area, a dangerous cross in the area found Millwall defender Japhet Tanganga, who nodded it into his own net to give Palace the lead.

Seven minutes after the first goal, England international Guéhi found himself carrying the ball past the halfway line.

He then clipped a cross in the box looking for Daniel Muñoz, who could not reach the original pass. Billy Mitchell’s clearance ricocheted off of team-mate Tanganga and Muñoz poached the loose ball into the net.

On the brink of half-time Millwall winger Azeez forced Matt Turner into a save, which fell to Millwall’s defender Wes Harding, who found the net with the assistance of a Ben Chilwell deflection.

Millwall went into half-time only one goal down, which is the only goal Crystal Palace have conceded In this year’s FA Cup run.

The Eagles later found the goal to seal the game in the 81st minute. A free-kick from Eze found aerial threat Chris Richards, who nodded the ball across goal to an alert Eddie Nketiah, who floated the ball into the top left corner to seal Crystal Palace’s spot in the final eight.

This game saw Crystal Palace completely dictate the rhythm and pulse of the game, controlling the ball with 76% possession and testing Millwall frequently with 17 shots, a confidence booster before a big test at Craven Cottage.

Fulham 0-3 Crystal Palace, 29th March, 2025

Crystal Palace travelled back to Craven Cottage, 35 days after their 2-0 win at Fulham’s ground.

After a nervy half an hour, Maxence Lacroix distributed a great pass out wide to Tyrick Mitchell, Eze received the ball from Palace’s left back, and drove at the Fulham defence before bending a low shot into Bernd Leno’s far post putting Palace on route to Wembley.

Four minutes later, Eze received the ball on the left flank and dribbled directly at former team-mate Joachim Andersen, before putting a great cross directly in front of Bernd Leno.

Ismaïla Sarr met the cross with a soft header placed between the Fulham goalkeeper’s legs to give Crystal Palace a two-goal cushion at half-time.

In the 70th minute Daichi Kamada and Eddie Nketiah were substituted onto the pitch together.

Only five minutes later Japanese international Kamada split the defence with a throughball to Nketiah, who calmly sealed the Eagles’ trip to Wembley with a finish through Bernd Leno’s legs.

The quarter-final match-up saw Glasner’s players optimize their manager’s counter-attacking system with only 23% possession.

But always looking menacing, and breaking forward in numbers, the Eagles were compact, hard to break down but also efficient and dangerous going forward.

Crystal Palace 3-0 Aston Villa, 26th April, 2025

After being defeated four times in the last five meetings, Unai Emery and his players were hoping for a different outcome against Crystal Palace, this time at Wembley.

Mateta thought he put his name on the scoresheet early but it was disallowed for a foul.

Despite this minor setback, Ismaïla Sarr later charged down Pau Torres’ pass before keeping the loose ball in play.

Sarr then beat Lucas Digne and played a great pass to an open Eze, who fired a strong shot past Emiliano Martínez to give Palace the lead.

In the 51st minute, Adam Wharton picked up the ball in midfield, then lasered a pass to Eze, who was dragged down by Aston Villa’s Boubacar Kamara seconds later.

Mateta stepped up to take the penalty, and hit the right post handing Villa a lifeline but also the momentum.

After many Villa missed chances, Wharton dispossessed a sluggish Youri Tielemans inside the Villa half, the ball dropped to Mateta who released Sarr into the empty space, and Sarr took a few touches before hammering the ball into the back of the net.

The final blow came in the 94th minute with Tielemans once again being dispossessed, this time by Nketiah, who played a weighted pass into empty space.

Sarr then latched onto the pass, got past Ezri Konsa and placed his shot into the corner to grab his brace and carry Palace into the FA Cup final.

The semi-finals saw the Eagles absorb Aston Villa who had 70% possession, but zero big chances.

Palace manager Glasner’s counter-attacking style was lethal against Villa and caused the Villans problems until the last kick of the game.

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