FA Cup: Crystal Palace and Manchester City routes to the final

Crystal Palace will become the 45th club to win the FA Cup if they get past Manchester City, who are aiming for their seventh success, on Saturday and this is how the two finalists booked their place in the Wembley final.

Crystal Palace's route to Wembley

• Third round: Stockport County (h) won 1-0

• Fourth round: Doncaster Rovers (a) won 2-0

• Fifth round: Millwall (h) won 3-1

• Quarter-final: Fulham (a) won 3-0

• Semi-final: Aston Villa (Wembley) won 3-0

Tricky early hurdles negotiated

Palace started their Wembley quest for what looked a potentially difficult tie against one of League One's leading lights, Stockport, but Oliver Glasner made sure his team stayed professional and did not become the victims of a shock.

Eberechi Eze’s early goal got the job done and it was a recipe they were able to repeat in the fourth round when traditionalists were sniffing an upset from a trip to Doncaster, who would go on to be champions of League Two.

However, the Eagles were up to the task as Daniel Munoz and Justin Devenny scored the goals that earned a tie against south London rivals Millwall, which turned into an eventful affair.

Most of the headlines were taken by Liam Roberts’ challenge on Jean-Philippe Mateta that left the Palace striker with a nasty head injury and earned the Lions goalkeeper a red card.

It still took a while for the Eagles to take the game by the scruff of the neck, but they eventually took a two-goal lead with a Japhet Tanganga own goal and another from Munoz.

Wes Harding pulled one back for the Lions with a header that would be the only goal Palace would concede on their run and on-loan striker Eddie Nketiah then nodded home a looping header.

Palace find their groove to upset the odds

Glasner’s team were then handed a quarter-final trip to Fulham, who had seen off holders Manchester United, but it was a memorable trip for the visitors to Craven Cottage.

Two Eze goals put them in the driving seat and Nketiah then completed the job again in a fine performance and it was a similar story in their semi-final success over Aston Villa.

It took Palace time to get into their groove, but they took over after Eze fired home to break the deadlock.

A missed Mateta penalty could not knock them off their stride and two goals from Ismaila Sarr were more than enough to book a place in the cup final for the third time.

Manchester City's route to Wembley

• Third round: Salford City (h) won 8-0

• Fourth round: Leyton Orient (a) won 2-1

• Fifth round: Plymouth Argyle (h) won 3-1

• Quarter-final: Bournemouth (a) won 2-1

• Semi-final: Nottingham Forest (Wembley) won 2-0

City show their battling qualities

After Manchester City were beaten in last May’s final by arch-rivals United, Pep Guardiola’s side eased their way into this year’s competition with an 8-0 win over League Two Salford City in their third-round clash, with James McAtee scoring a hat-trick.

However, they had a few more sweats at Leyton Orient, when they fell behind early on when Jamie Donley’s long-range effort went in off goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.

However, Guardiola’s side got over the line as Rico Lewis’s deflected effort levelled affairs before a Kevin De Bruyne shot sealed the issue with 12 minutes remaining.

Championship strugglers Plymouth lay in wait in the fifth round, buoyed by their previous victories over Premier League Brentford and Liverpool and the Devon outfit shocked the Etihad by taking the lead, before two goals from Nico O’Reilly and another De Bruyne effort calmed local nerves.

Pep's boys fight to reach third successive final

Like Palace, City did not face top-flight opposition until they reached the quarter-finals and they were handed another tricky tie when they were allocated a trip to Bournemouth.

The Cherries took the lead thanks to an Evanilson effort in the 21st minute and it looked as if City might fall, but goals from Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush ensured they got through.

They then had to ride their luck on occasions against Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals, as Morgan Gibbs-White and Taiwo Awoniyi both hit the woodwork for the Tricky Trees, with Lewis and Josko Gvardiol doing the damage to book a place for the Citizens in their third successive FA Cup final.