After beating Villa twice in all competitions this season, Palace made it a hat-trick of wins thanks to Eze's wondergoal and a second-half brace from Sarr. 

Oliver Glasner's side will return to Wembley on 18 May (AEST) for the showpiece match, where it will face either Nottingham Forest or Manchester City, who square off on Monday (AEST) in the other semi-final.

Villa started the brighter of the two sides, with Boubacar Kamara's wild strike just after the 10th minute an early warning for Palace.

Morgan Rogers spurned a great chance soon after, bouncing a half-volley narrowly wide of Dean Henderson's right post after Lucas Digne's cross into the box.

Palace thought it had gone ahead when Jean-Philippe Mateta tucked the ball home, but the striker was penalised for a foul on Ezri Konsa when winning back possession.

But the Eagles soared into a 31st-minute lead via a moment of quality from Eze, who sent a curling first-time strike over Emiliano Martinez from the edge of the box.

Tyrick Mitchell should have put Palace two goals in front on the stroke of half-time, but the full-back completely miscued from Sarr's ball back into the area as the Eagles ended the opening period in the ascendency.

Villa, however, came out fighting after the break, with Henderson making two brilliant saves to deny John McGinn and Digne in quick succession shortly after the restart.

But moments later at the other end, Palace was handed the opportunity to double its lead after Kamara tripped Eze inside the box, but Mateta was unable to convert the spot-kick, with his penalty clipping the post and going behind.

Despite that, Palace got its second in the 58th minute after Adam Wharton stole back possession, with the ball finding Sarr, who picked out the bottom-left corner from distance.

Villa almost reduced the deficit through substitute Leon Bailey, but his goal-bound effort from six yards out was inadvertently blocked on the line by team-mate Pau Torres.

Bailey then forced a smart stop from Henderson at his near post, before Sarr headed narrowly wide from Daichi Kamada's teasing delivery at the other end.

While seven minutes of additional time were met with groans from the Palace supporters, their team sealed the victory after poor play by the Villans deep in their own half.

Palace substitute Eddie Nketiah won the ball back from Youri Tielemans before sending Sarr on his way, with the Senegalese racing in on goal and finishing past Martinez.

For all of Palace's attacking brilliance, its defence proved to be equally as important.

The Eagles recorded its 10th clean sheet in all competitions in 2025, the most of any Premier League side since the turn of the year.

Eagles manager Oliver Glasner received plaudits from captian Marc Guehi and Palace chairman Steve Parish after the win.

"I never had any doubt, watching him work, the positivity and the way he his," Parish said when asked about Glasner, who is the first Austrian coach to take a team to the FA Cup final.

"He loves football, always believes we can win and he instils that in his players. All credit to the manager and the players, you can see what it means to them.

"I thought today was a real celebration of fans. Two clubs who haven't won a lot of honours in recent times. For us never. A great occasion at Wembley and we stand at the edge of doing something we've never done before.

"[We're in] touching distance [of something special]."

Palace captain Guehi echoed Parish's sentiment.

"[Glasner] is top," the England international said.

"Him and his staff, the way they analyse and break down teams. He is so enthusiastic every single day. Same energy and support and he is just amazing.

"The manager is always on to us about running and making sure you are in the right. He really wants us to get out there and get pressure on the ball. That's what helps us in games."

"All the credit to the players. They had to work so hard. They had to overcome a few difficult moments," Glasner said.

"We got more control, and it was an unbelievable performance today. The players stuck to the plan, and we never lost our heads."

But Glasner won't be dancing yet as Alan Pardew famously did when he was Palace's boss.