It was Eberechi Eze’s name sung repeatedly by children waiting outside Craven Cottage.
“Eze, Eze, Eze,” they chanted while awaiting the Crystal Palace midfielder’s presence after his side beat Fulham 3-0 to reach the FA Cup semi-finals. Struck by his talent, he is the player they want to emulate, who they look up to, and who inspires and entertains them.
Who could blame them for their enthusiasm? There have been plenty of challenging times this season, but when it matters, Eze has stepped up. His contributions — a goal and assist — were critical in guiding Palace into the last four.
His manager knew it, too. Oliver Glasner put his arm around Eze’s shoulder upon his substitution with 15 seconds of the 90 minutes remaining. Even with his face buried beneath Glasner’s arm, the 26-year-old’s smile was apparent as they shared a warm embrace.
Eberechi Eze, that is magical ✨@EbereEze10 with a stunner for @CPFC 😮💨#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/egkd7oEuDi
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) March 29, 2025
Glasner had told him how vital his role was in overcoming Fulham and Eze, who thrives when he feels appreciated and free to do what comes naturally to him, seemed to enjoy the moment.
“I tell him every day he’s one of the best, but it’s not about saying it, it’s about showing it and he does it,” his team-mate Marc Guehi told ITV in a post-match interview.
“I feel like if I’m given that license (to express myself), then I’m able to be free and create and that’s when I can make things happen,” Eze said in an April 2023 interview with The Athletic.
It has been a challenging and inconsistent season for him, but the 26-year-old makes a difference when finding freedom in a structured system. Buoyed by confidence after his first goal for England against Latvia on Monday, he will now return to Wembley after he broke Palace out of a slumber.
That’s TERRIFIC from Eberechi Eze!
Lovely feet from the Crystal Palace man 🔥#ITVFootball | #ThreeLions | #CPFC pic.twitter.com/s5EqCebKB1
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 24, 2025
It was a moment of symmetry. A trademark drift inside, beyond a couple of defenders, eyes fixed on the far corner of the goal and a ferocious strike that nestled neatly into the exact spot he had intended. For England, that is where the ball would have ended if it had not been for a deflection.
Eze’s heat map shows how he frequently dropped deep, but his involvement in five attacking sequences was the most of any player and his three progressive carries were the second most. It demonstrates how important he was in the deciding moments, even if his other contributions were more limited.
He now has the chance to change the course of his Palace career through their FA Cup journey, a competition that is more open than it has ever been before.
Glasner has turned Palace into a system team. They have largely moved away from being reliant on individuals, which has sometimes made things more difficult for Eze. It has been a “strange season” for him, Glasner said, albeit an “unlucky” one due to “disallowed goals, deflected balls hitting the post… and some strange injuries”.
The manager acknowledges his talent, but the focus is always on the team. As such, the relationship they enjoy, although positive, is not as close as it had been with Roy Hodgson, with whom Eze said it was a “huge privilege” to work.
That is just the way it has to be with Glasner’s way of playing. Yet, for all the understandable success of the collective approach, this was a reminder of how Palace still rely on Eze’s talent. It is unique in this squad and that is why it is so integral. He brings special, match-defining moments, even if they come out of nowhere, even if he has otherwise occasionally drifted on the periphery of games.
Just leaving this here…#CPFC pic.twitter.com/ak33iyFXBU
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) March 29, 2025
Next month, Palace will seek to avenge their meek semi-final defeat by Chelsea in 2022. Before Eze’s outstanding finish to open the scoring against Fulham, they had looked under threat of repeating an underwhelming exit.
“I told him that this goal helped us a lot today because we got more and more belief. It was so fundamental (and a result of) his individual quality,” Glasner said in his post-match press conference, with Eze’s equally excellent assist for Ismaila Sarr ensuring he had the match-defining contributions.
When Eze discussed the design of his new boot in that 2023 interview, he reflected it was based on how he had “come from a difficult place and made it out and I’m shining brightly”.
Things have not always been smooth for Eze, but he has overcome hurdles and the changes in system and management style, and he is still proving successful when it matters most.
Palace have a huge opportunity to channel the momentum of the second half of this season and use it to potentially win a major trophy for the first time in their history, even if Glasner will not focus beyond the next match.
Confidence is with them and, in particular, Eze now. The benefit of that must not be overlooked.
They will have few better chances than this and Eze will undoubtedly be crucial if they are to succeed. If they manage it, his name will be chanted for years to come — and not just outside Craven Cottage.
(Top photo: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)