Palace beat Watford to book FA Cup final with Man Utd

LONDON: Crystal Palace set up a repeat of the 1990 FA Cup final against Manchester United after Yannick Bolasie and Connor Wickham securd a 2-1 victory over Watford at Wembley on Sunday.

Bolasie headed in Yohan Cabaye’s corner to put Palace in front after six minutes and they should have built on their advantage before halftime against a lacklustre Watford.

Troy Deeney sparked the semi-final into life with Watford’s equaliser nine minutes after halftime, but they were only level for seven minutes.

Wickham stretched to meet a cross from Pape Souare and his header flew beyond the reach of flat-footed Watford keeper Costel Pantilimon who was slow to react.

Watford mounted some late pressure and there were a few anxious moments for Palace in stoppage time, but they deservedly held on to set up a season finale against United who they lost to in a replay in their only other FA Cup final.

On Saturday night, Anthony Martial snatched a late winner to send Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United into a potentially season-redeeming FA Cup final as the favourites following a 2-1 victory over Everton.

After Marouane Fellaini’s first-half strike for United against his former club was cancelled out by Chris Smalling’s 75th-minute own goal, Martial struck three minutes into stoppage time.

Everton, with manager Roberto Martinez’s job looking increasingly on the line, could only rue what might have been after they missed a second-half penalty.

David de Gea was as much the United hero as Martial, the Spain goalkeeper keeping out Romelu Lukaku’s 57th-minute spot kick with a superb diving save after Timothy Fosu-Mensah had felled Ross Barkley.

“Everton played really well and had some chances,” said De Gea.

“In one second, Anthony Martial scores a goal and you win it in the last minute. It’s unbelievable,” he added.

In a rollercoaster of a semi-final, with a string of missed chances keeping both sets of fans on a knife edge, United had a penalty appeal rejected in the 66th minute when Fellaini’s shot was blocked by Phil Jagielka’s arm.

Dutchman Van Gaal has faced endless debate about his United future, with media speculation that Jose Mourinho is waiting in the wings, after crashing out of Europe and poor performances in the Premier League. The final, with United on course to lift the trophy for the first time since 2004, would be a silver lining even if there are no guarantees he will still be in the job next season.

“When you see the joy in the eyes of the players, it is fantastic to see, but also for the fans,” said Van Gaal who has had all too few moments of such unbridled enjoyment during his tenure.

“We deserved to go to the final. We didn’t have any fouls in our benefit and the referee changed the match, I think,” Van Gaal said.

Martial’s goal, with the French forward perfectly placed to sweep in substitute Ander Herrera’s through ball, unleashed the celebrations and he was also the key to United’s 34th-minute opener.

He opened up the defence and provided the pass that midfielder Fellaini latched on to from six metres.

Fellaini was none too subtle about the goal celebration, making sure the Everton fans could see the name on his red shirt.