Patrick Vieira was humble in victory on Sunday afternoon after he watched his Crystal Palace team secure a 4-0 victory over Everton, handing The Eagles their first FA Cup semi-final appearance since 2016.

An injury to former Palace man Andros Townsend in the first half gave Palace rest bite to settle down in a game they had previously struggled to get a foothold in.

But as soon as they found their rhythm, The Eagles blew their opponents away, with goals from  Marc Guehi and Jean-Phillipe Mateta putting them into pole position at the break.

In arguably the best performance and result of the Patrick Vieira era, the home side plugged every gap in the second half, giving their visitors no route to pave a comeback.

Late goals from Wilfried Zaha and Will Hughes meant that the south Londoners sailed to victory, giving the vocal Crystal Palace fanbase a trip to Wembley to put in their calendars. 

Having been asked after the game whether it was his best day as a Crystal Palace boss, though, Patrick Vieira stayed grounded. 

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  • A day to remember

Instead of answering the question he was posed with, he told ITV Sport: “It is a win, and going to Wembley is fantastic. You could hear the atmosphere in the stadium – the fans – this is what they wanted and we wanted to do it as well for them because this year they have been fantastic behind the team and giving us the support we need to perform.

“It was a really good day for the football club. We performed well as a team and we went through a difficult period in the game, particularly the first 15 to 20 minutes but we didn’t concede and that allowed us to come into it.

“Once we scored that first goal we started to believe more.

“The crucial time was the first 15 minutes because they were on top of us and they had momentum. We showed maturity because we went longer and managed to play off the second ball. We started to get into the game.

“But it is just a step forward. There is still a long way to go because now we are in the semi-final, it is an exciting time, and we will enjoy it. We will enjoy today – it is good for the fans, it is good for the club and it is good for the players. But, again, it is just one step forward.”

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The quarter-final victory for Patrick Vieira was his fourth in the FA Cup as Crystal Palace manager, which means he has already eclipsed Roy Hodgson's record of three wins in four years at the club. 

Crystal Palace's intangible excitement has been a theme all season long, and with Wembley beckoning, the elephant in the room of how far this new-look Palace team will go keeps growing bigger. 

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