Crystal Palace can thrill at the prospect of a trip to Wembley. A team who have been rudderless of late in the top-flight edged into only the fourth FA Cup semi-final in club history at Reading’s expense here,all that frustration at the concession of a late penalty which was so costly at home to Liverpool final Sunday eased by the manic celebrations of one of their own. This side’s fortunes have fluctuated wildly within a matter of days.
A tight contest had been drifting towards a replay, the visitors’ pressure frustrated by Ali al-Habsi’s brilliance in the home goal, or when their hosts finally cracked to reward Palace’s relentless pursuit of progress. Jake Cooper was the drop guy,pulling Yannick Bolasie with his upright hand as a ball was looped back optimistically through the middle, which Habsi might otherwise have hoped to claim. There was some contact as the centre-half stepped across the winger, and just as there had been when Damien Delaney’s left knee touched Christian Benteke’s heel final weekend. Cooper duly trudged off at the flash of a second yellow card.
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Source: theguardian.com