Crystal Palace vs Everton - 21/22 FA Cup Quarter Finals

Updated: Aug 4, 2023

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well.

We were back at Selhurst Park for another game on our road to Wembley in the FA Cup. On Sunday 20th of March, we hosted Everton in the Quarter Finals, this was our first Premier League opponent during the cup so was going to be a harder battle then the last. We’ve been really lucky and have had most of our games at home, so it’s been great for us Palace fans to go on the journey with the boys.

To get to the quarter finals, Everton beat non-league team Boreham Wood in a comfortable 2-0 win. Frank Lampard’s team had been struggling in recent weeks in the Premier League losing 4 out of their last 5, although their last result was a 1-0 last minute win over Newcastle. Last time we played them back in December we beat them with a great 3-1 win, the game Conor scored a banging goal. We couldn’t be overly confident as a lot had changed within the team, but I was quietly confident during the build up!

Vieira only made two changes which saw Schlupp who was suspended for multiple yellow cards be replaced by Eze, and Butland regained his spot between the sticks.

It was a 12.30 kick off and it was a pretty warm day. As the players entered the pitch a banner was shown in the Holmesdale end which read “let’s finish what we started” as we were only 90 minutes away from the Semi Finals and Wembley! We’ve got super Pat Vieira’ sang round the stadium before kick-off and the noise did not fail to disappoint throughout. The first 5 minutes was a bit nervy as Everton started strong and came at us with everything holding us captive in our defensive half. During this period there was a penalty shout from Richarlison after a slip from Guehi, but he managed to recover perfected and slide the ball out of his path back too Butland, an obvious dive from the Brazilian as he made a meal out of the contact, and it wasn’t the last time he tried to play the ref! We simply couldn’t clear the ball or pass to each other, but Everton just weren’t clinical enough. There was a lengthy pause in play early on as Townsend hurt himself when going to get the ball after Mitchell won it back, it looked like a sore one as he wasn’t tackled and instead rolled his ankle, sadly he did have to be taken off but luckily not by a stretcher, it’s never nice to see a player injured especially when they used to play for us … he got a standing ovation from the home fans as he hobbled round the side-line, wishing him a speedy recovery. This was a turning point in the game for us as Everton started to come to an end of their bright opening 15. Eze had a chance to prove his worth, but it ended with a comfortable save … he’s the one player I especially wanted to do well today after not being given a chance for so long. The ref was very reserved with his cards, Gomez was extremely lucky to not get a caution after kicking Conor in the face with a high boot. First corner of the game was taken by Olise, he tried to whip it straight into the net putting Pickford under pressure and immediately forcing another corner; again, taken by Olise but this time aimed for the captain Guehi, he was unmarked after some failed zonal marking, and was able to climb above everyone to head it into the back of the net and put us ahead with our first real chance!! Zaha had a chance to put us comfortably ahead as he received the ball from Mateta after a run across the box, his shot was just off target but was very close! Everton struggled to cope with the pressure we were applying, causing some silly mistakes, but it still was pretty even although there was no real threat applied by the toffees. Richarlisonhad a chance to level the score after having a first-time volley, but it was straight at Butland. A slow start for Eze but as he grew into the game, he became more and more impactful, his positive runs towards goal ultimately got us the second goal … he played the ball in behind into space towards Zaha who continued towards the touch line and finally whipped it into the path of Mateta, was finally able to direct it into the back of the net. The corner flag was a victim once again and we were 2-0 up going into the break with an absolutely cracking atmosphere! Just before the half time whistle Mateta could’ve/should’ve had a second, a ball was played through the middle of the pitch by Eze, Mateta went for the touch allowing the defender to get a foot in, but he should have hit it first time as the chance was wasted.

2-0 up at half time after the opening we had was a fantastic result. Everton may have felt slightly hard done by but once we settle in, we were brilliant and played some lovely football. We just needed to continue with the momentum we left the first half with. This games half time entertainment was filled with another set of influencers, this time Ollie Ball (who is an Everton fan) and Casey Barker (who is a Brighton fan, but this wasn’t mentioned for his own safety lol). Neither wowed the crowd as they both missed their penalties, but Ollie loved the chance to torment the Palace fans … although he couldn’t really say much looking at the result! Everton made an attacking substitution bringing Calvert Lewin on showed they were about to throw everything at us, but we were only 45 minutes away from Wembley!

A good start from us and we were finally able to get Olise involved after having a pretty quiet first half apart from his assist, he continued go trouble Everton for the rest of the half. Some really good football was on display from us in the second half and we didn’t offer Everton any sense of coming back into the game although we didn’t have any clear-cut chances. ‘Wembley, Wembley’ rang round the stands, the man behind me wasn’t too happy as he felt it was ‘too early’ to be singing that, but thankfully it didn’t come back to bite us! Grey had a good effort on goal which surprised Butland as it came from far outside the box, but it whistled straight past the far post. The first substitutions for Vieira came in the 70th minute which saw Eze and Mateta off for Milivojevic and Edouard. Zaha had another chance to get himself a goal but took too much time to get a shot off and ran into an Everton pile up. Vieira really wasn’t happy with this as someone of his quality should be burying it. Thankfully for him within a minute he managed to get on the scoresheet, Olise tried his classic whip into the top corner he miss kicked the ball which was met by some groans in the stands (including from myself) after an earlier chance went into the stands, but these were premature as the ball came back into play off the post and into the path of Zaha who could finally finish it. It was pretty safe to say we were on the way to Wembley with 10 minutes to play!! The final set of substitutes came in the 82nd minute which saw Benteke, and Hughes replace Olise and Kouyate to see the game out. Everton’s heads completely dropped and none of their passes were coming off, they were just waiting for the final whistle. After minutes of being on the pitch Hughes was on the scoresheet and we were 4-0 up, some beautiful turn in the box from Gallagher saw the initial shot which forced a good save from Pickford, but it was straight into the path of Hughes who had a simple tap in for his first Palace goal! Still hungry for more the boys didn’t relax until the final whistle and when we were guaranteed a position in the semi-finals!! The noise when the ref blew for full time was insane and that was one of the best home atmospheres I’ve been too!

For someone that was favourite to be sacked first ‘Super Pat Vieira’ is doing a fantastic job and we are now heading to Wembley in his first season in charge, and after a six year wait!! You could see how much this meant to the players and they along with all the fans deserve this trip to Wembley after such a strong season and cup run! Great moment for the Marc Guehi as he led his team to victory, what a week he was having after just receiving his first senior England call up. Some fantastic performances throughout the team and everyone put a shift in to ensure we got over the line, most importantly we were clinical in our chances which was something Everton lacked and that ultimately decides results. Really hoping that game has put Eze back in contention and in Vieira’s plans because he was looking decent out there, and it’s such a shame seeing him be wasted on the bench. Following the draw, we will be facing Chelsea in the Semi Finals, gutted for Conor as he will be illegible to play against his parent club, but regardless I’m really looking forward to the day out! Also, really proud of Gallagher, Guehi and Mitchell (who should’ve been in the original squad) as they all received England call ups some for the first time, the Palace domination is on the rise! Make sure you catch the England games to support the boys.

We waited behind afterwards in the lovely heat to meet the players after a while of going straight home, we saw Benteke, Edouard, Clyne, Gallagher, Eze, Mateta, Guehi, Ward, Guaita, Milivojevic, Dann and ex Palace legend John Salako. It was the first time I had met some of them and they were all as expected really nice.