2024/25 FA Cup Quarter Finals: Review

Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Manchester City, and Crystal Palace have all secured their places in the FA Cup Semi Final following the weekend’s action across the country.

The four games that made up the 2024/25 FA Cup Quarter Finals are now at an end, and we now know the four clubs who will be taking part in the FA Cup Semi-Finals at the iconic and historic Wembley Stadium, with them all looking to secure themselves a highly coveted place in the 2025 FA Cup Final at the same venue later on this year.

Over all of the games in the Quarter Finals over the course of the weekend, there were a grand total of 9 goals, with only one of them ending up as a goalless draw after the normal ninety minutes and the extra time.

The clubs that have made it to the point where they are just one step away from the Final are Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest, Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, and Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.

The draw for the Semi-Finals, which took place on Sunday afternoon, saw Aston Villa and Crystal Palace get drawn together in one tie, with the other seeing Nottingham Forest and Manchester City set to be the other semi-final that is set to take place from Saturday 26th to Sunday 27th April 2025.

Results from the Quarter Finals saw Aston Villa emerge as emphatic 3 – 0 winners away from home against EFL Championship outfit Preston North End, led by Paul Heckingbottom at Deepdale, whilst Pep Guardiola and Manchester City came from a goal behind to beat Bournemouth 2 – 1.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace were very comfortable 3 – 0 winners at Craven Cottage against Marco Silva’s Fulham, whilst Forest came away as 4 – 3 winners on penalty kicks against fellow Premier League outfit Brighton, led by their German Boss Fabian Hürzeler, following a goalless draw at the Seagulls’ Amex Stadium.

We are now going to take a look at the four games from the 2024/25 FA Cup Quarter Finals from over the weekend, starting with Villa’s victory against North End at Deepdale in Lancashire on early Saturday afternoon.

Preston North End (Championship) 0 – 3 Aston Villa (Premier League) – Deepdale

We start with the game between Paul Heckingbottom’s Preston North End and Unai Emery’s Aston Villa at the historic Deepdale in Lancashire with the two clubs battling against each other for a much coveted place in the FA Cup Semi-Final.

In the end, it was a comfortable afternoon for Premier League Aston Villa following a goalless first forty five minutes. Marcus Rashford opened his Villa account with a superb close range finish following a quick, sweeping move forward (58’), before then scoring from the penalty spot in calm fashion just a couple of moments later (63’ – Penalty). Jacob Ramsey then rounded off the scoring with a third goal with just less than half an hour of the game remaining (71’).

Villa dominated the possession throughout the ninety minutes with no less than 72% of the ball compared with just 28% for hosts Preston. As for shots on target, visitors Villa were also superior in this statistic, with 7 of their 16 shots finding the target compared to just 1 of PNE’s 4 total shots finding its intended target in the game.

Bournemouth (Premier League) 1 – 2 Manchester City (Premier League) – Vitality Stadium

The next game that we are taking a look back it is the 2024/25 FA Cup Quarter Final tie between Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium on the South Coast on Sunday afternoon. It was City, after having gone a goal down, who came out on top as 2 – 1 winners in what was a narrow victory following what was and intense and enthralling game against the Cherries.

It was the hosts who scored the opening goal of the game, with summer signing Evanilson finding the back of the net from very close range following an initial effort from his fellow forward Justin Kluivert early on in the first half (21’). This lead was maintained for the remainder of that first half.

Then, early on into the second half, visitors Manchester City were able to find the equalising goal thanks to a strike from Erling Haaland who scored from close range after meeting a low, sweeping cross across the box from substitute Nico O’Reilly (49’). Omar Marmoush, signed from German Club Eintracht Frankfurt in January 2025, scored the winning goal with just under half an hour of the game remaining overall (63’).

In terms of possession, this was dominated by the visitors, with City having 64% of the ball, whilst hosts Bournemouth had 36% of their ball over the course of this FA Cup Quarter Final contest. In terms of shots on target, City had more with 7, compared to just 2 for the Cherries overall.

Fulham (Premier League) 0 – 3 Crystal Palace (Premier League) – Craven Cottage

We now take a look back at another 2024/25 FA Cup Quarter Final battle between two fellow Premier League sides, this time at Craven Cottage in West London. Marco Silva’s Fulham went head to head with fellow London Club Crystal Palace, led by their Austrian Head Coach Oliver Glasner. In the end, it was to be a very comfortable, commanding, and emphatic 3 – 0 victory away from home for the visiting Eagles side.

With barely more than half an hour having gone, Palace took the lead thanks to a superb goal from England International Eberechi Eze (34’). It did not take long for the visitors to double their advantage, with forward Ismaila Sarr finding the back of the net just four minutes after Eze had officially broken the deadlock for their team (38’).

Ex-Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah then rounded off the scoring for Crystal Palace with a great finish for a lovely goal with only fifteen minutes of the game remaining (75’).

When it comes to possession in this game, it was the hosts Fulham who had the most possession with 71% of the ball in total compared to just 29% of the ball for Oliver Glasner and his Crystal Palace side. Palace did have the most shots on target, with 6 from 8 total shots compared with 3 shots on target from a total of no less than 16 total shots for the Cottagers.

Brighton (Premier League) 0 – 0 (3 – 4 on pens) Nottingham Forest (Premier League) – Amex Stadium

Finally, we take a look back at the 2024/25 FA Cup Quarter Final tie between Fabian Hürzeler’s Brighton and Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest at the Amex Stadium on the South Coast at the weekend. It was to be a 0 – 0 draw in the end between these two high-flying Premier League Clubs, even after extra time, so it had to go to a penalty shootout. It was intense for both clubs, but it was Champions League Chasing Nottingham Forest who came out on top in the end as 4 – 3 winners on penalties.

For Brighton, their penalties were scored thanks to Joao Pedro, Brajan Gruda, and Club Captain Lewis Dunk, whilst it was academy graduate Jack Hinshelwood and January signing Diego Gómez who missed for the Seagulls.

As for Forest, their goal scorers from the penalty spot in the shootout were Elliot Anderson, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Nikola Milenković, and Ryan Yates. Welsh international right back Neco Williams was the only player to miss from the spot for Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest.

Excitement is already building ahead of the two 2024/25 FA Cup Semi Finals that are set to take place at the iconic and historic Wembley Stadium from Saturday 26th April to Sunday 27th April 2025. Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Manchester City, and Crystal Palace will all be battling for one of the two spots available for the upcoming 2025 FA Cup Final later this year.

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