Africa-Press – South-Africa. When Crystal Palace failed to win any of their first eight Premier League games this season the alarm bells might have been ringing for their Austrian coach Oliver Glasner.
After all, England’s top-flight is littered with examples of trigger-happy chairmen panicking at the first sign of trouble.
Thankfully for Glasner, Steve Parish kept the faith in the man he hired to replace Roy Hodgson 14 months ago and on Saturday at Wembley that decision looked like a masterstroke.
Glasner’s Palace blew Aston Villa away 3-0 in their semifinal to reach the FA Cup final for only the third time and a first trophy in the club’s 119-year existence is now tantalisingly close.
“I never had any doubt, watching him work, the positivity and the way he is,” Parish told the BBC on a giddy day for Palace fans who were sent into delirium by two superb goals by Ismaila Sarr after a stunning opener by Eberechi Eze.
“He loves football, always believes we can win and he instils that in his players.”
Palace’s start to the season was puzzling, seeing as they finished the previous season like a house on fire, winning six of their last seven league matches to end up in 12th spot, including thrashing Villa 5-0 in the last game of the campaign.
Admittedly, they had sold their outstanding winger Michael Olise to Bayern Munich and, more surprisingly, key defender Joachim Andersen to London rivals Fulham.
But Palace’s squad still retained the likes of Eze, Jean-Phillipe Mateta and Sarr, not to mention England defender Marc Guehi, so to suffer their worst start to a season since 1992-93, scoring only five goals in those eight games, led some to fear that former Eintracht Frankfurt coach Glasner had been rumbled.
A 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in October offered some respite but they remained in the bottom three until late November and it was not until their 14th league game of the season that they picked up their second victory.
Since then, they have not looked back and were even in the mix for Europe until a mini-slump of late.
Now, 50-year-old Glasner has the chance to deliver something really special for the club’s passionate fan base who turned their half of Wembley into a sea of blue and red on Saturday.
“The most important thing is everyone stayed calm in the club. The team, such great guys and they always believed in us and have always had a great togetherness,” Glasner, who is the first Austrian coach to reach an FA Cup final, said.
Palace outplayed Villa as they reached the FA Cup final for only the third time via two brilliant goals by Sarr and another by Eze.
Palace’s fans cranked up the volume from the first minute and were rewarded in thrilling fashion. England forward Eze put Palace ahead in the 31st minute with sweetly-struck right-footed shot from just outside the penalty area after being picked out by the irrepressible Sarr.
Tyrick Mitchell spurned a glorious chance to make it 2-0 just before half time and when Jean-Phillipe Mateta blazed a penalty wide shortly after the restart Palace might have feared they would be made to pay by their Premier League rivals.
But Villa simply could not cope with Palace’s relentless energy and Sarr then sent a long-range low drive past Emiliano Martinez just before the hour to put his side firmly in control.
Sarr then broke clear in stoppage time and finished in style to send Palace’s fans into delirium.
Palace will discover their final opponents on Sunday when Manchester City take on Nottingham Forest.
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