Wilfried Zaha sees ‘even more to come’ for Crystal Palace after securing FA Cup semi-final spot

Wilfried Zaha is excited about Crystal Palace’s future under boss Patrick Vieira after they booked a ticket to Wembley on Sunday.

A comprehensive 4-0 win over Everton in the FA Cup quarter-finals continued the Eagles’ fine debut campaign under their new manager.

Vieira has kept Palace comfortably away from the relegation zone all season, despite a summer of upheaval, and now has a date at Wembley to look forward to after goals by Marc Guehi, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Zaha and Will Hughes extended their unbeaten run to six games.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Zaha told ITV when asked about the prospect of an FA Cup semi-final at the national stadium.

“It’s amazing. Obviously it’s crazy it is the first year the team have played together, but you can see the progress already. I think over time when the team gels together more there is even more to come.

“This shows what direction the club are going in. The players we have brought in, how we play, it just shows what we have got for the future so the club is going in a good direction.”

Zaha’s comments will be welcomed by everyone associated at Palace, especially as he approaches the final 12 months of his contract.

The Ivory Coast international assisted Mateta and grabbed his 10th goal of the campaign in the win, the third time he has reached double figures in a season.

Boss Vieira has often talked up Zaha’s contribution off the ball and did similar regarding the recalled Ebere Eze, who made only his fourth start of the season in the cup success following his recovery from a serious Achilles injury last May.

“Ebs has been training really well and was waiting for that kind of opportunity to play,” the Palace manager explained.

“Unfortunately he didn’t play very much but it is