Crystal Palace will face Chelsea at Wembley in the semi-finals of the FA Cup next month.
The Eagles smashed Everton 4-0 at Selhurst Park in the quarter-finals on Sunday to set themselves up with a first appearance in the last-four since 2016. Goals from Marc Guehi and Jean-Philippe Mateta put Palace on the road to victory in the first half in south London against a Toffees side struggling for Premier League survival under Frank Lampard.
The visitors pushed back in the second half in hope of finding a way back into the match but were left exposed at the back where Palace managed to kill the game off late on.
READ MORE: Every word Patrick Vieira said on FA Cup, Everton, Wembley, Jean-Philippe Mateta and more
Wilfried Zaha tapped home from close range after Michael Olise’s looping effort landed at his feet after hitting the bar before Jordan Pickford’s one-handed save from Conor Gallagher’s shot fell to Will Hughes to poke home the fourth. Patrick Vieria was upbeat in his post-match press conference and said he was pleased with how his side had played both in and out of possession and how they managed the game to see them over the line.
He also said that all the teams left in the FA Cup would likely be hoping to draw Palace, with Chelsea and Manchester City joining either Liverpool or Nottingham Forest in the competition’s last four.
“Anything is possible,” he told reporters. “But of course, there are still quarter-finals to play. Depending on who's going through, I think they will look at the draw and they will all want to play Palace.
“If Chelsea, City and Liverpool go through, what they will want to do is to play us. Because we’d be the underdogs. We will try to [prove otherwise].
“When you get to that level anything can happen and that’s the beauty of the game.”
Crystal Palace's FA Cup semi-final vs Chelsea will take place on either April 16 (Saturday) or April 17 (Sunday).
