Ismaïla Sarr hasn’t had many more memorable weeks. But most remarkable about his match-winning performance for Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa is that it came after his wife, Fatou, had given birth to twins a few days earlier. “It was a surprise – nobody knew,” said the manager Oliver Glasner after Palace’s thrilling victory at Wembley thanks to two goals from the Senegal forward.
Eberechi Eze said the BBC pundit Alan Shearer had awarded him player of the match “a bit prematurely” before Sarr’s second. “I’ll be giving this to him inside – he’s a top player and he’s helped us so much this season,” the England forward said.
