March 31 – The FA Cup quarter-finals are in the books, and the semi-finals, to be contested at Wembley Stadium, will feature an all-Premier League line-up as Nottingham Forest will meet Manchester City, while Aston Villa take on Crystal Palace.
In the opening quarter-final match on Saturday morning, Palace continued their fine form with a comfortable 3-0 win over London neighbors, Fulham. Since Boxing Day, the Eagles have run off, nine unbeaten matches in the Premier League, and a short trip to Craven Cottage carried no jeopardy after goals by Eberechi Eze, Ismaila Sarr, and Eddie Nketiah. This will be their second semi-final appearance in the last four seasons. Last time out they lost to Chelsea 2-0.
In the second game on Saturday, Nottingham Forest and Brighton and Hove Albion played out a classic 0-0 encounter that could’ve have gone either way before Forest advanced via a penalty shoot-out. Local Nottingham lad, Ryan Yates, fired in the decisive kick after goalkeeper Matz Sels had produced two excellent stops.
Forest, who last won this trophy in 1959, have made a habit of winning shootouts in their run to a first semifinal in 34 years. Exeter City, and Ipswich Town were beaten on penalties in the fourth and fifth rounds respectively, marking a hat trick of wins from 12 yards.
In the only tie that was not all Premier League, Aston Villa used a second-half goal barrage to put away Championship side Preston North End. The hero for the Villains was on-loan Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, who now looks to be getting back to his best. Jacob Ramsey added the gloss as Villa’s hopes of lifting a trophy they last touched in 1957 are well alive.
In the last tie, Manchester City traveled to AFC Bournemouth, and the site of where their all-conquering machine hit the skids earlier in the season. After being beaten by the Cherries, Pep Guardiola’s team went into a tailspin that they’ve barely recovered from.
When Erling Haaland missed an early penalty, the warning signs were blinking especially when Evanilson opened the scoring for the home team, However, Haaland made amends with the equaliser before going off with a worrying ankle injury. New signing, Omar Marmoush, eventually calmed nerves with the winner, meaning City have now reached seven consecutive FA Cup semi-finals, a record.
The semi-finals will be played the weekend of April 26.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1743516654labto1743516654ofdlr1743516654owedi1743516654sni@o1743516654fni1743516654