Bolasie goal was ´homage´ to Pardew´s Liverpool heroics

Alan Pardew says the corner routine that set Crystal Palace on their way to FA Cup semi-final success was an “homage” to his own exploits at the same stage 26 years ago.

Yannick Bolasie nodded home to put Palace on their way to a 2-1 Wembley win over Watford that sealed a final showdown with Manchester United.

Pardew was Palace’s semi-final hero with an extra-time header in 1990 as Liverpool were beaten en route to a final that the Eagles lost to Alex Ferguson’s United, and Bolasie’s effort bore a not entirely unplanned resemblance.

“It was homage to that game, I’m glad it came off because I would have looked stupid,” Pardew told BT Sport.

“It was a chance to show me of course!

“It feels good, we deserved to be in the final. We were excellent and our run’s been very difficult.

“Now we’re playing the biggest team in the world, they probably weren’t in 1990 but they are now and that’s the biggest challenge.”

Pardew hinted before the game that he considered the XI he was able to field as his strongest available, and was quick to hail his players again after they got the job done.

“I’ve only been able to play that team, I think that’s the eighth time today and it’s a solid team,” he explained.

“The game plan was good, we wanted to control from start to finish. We were really on top of our game.

“It’s great for our fans, they are going to love coming back here.”

Bolasie admitted after the match that watching his manager’s heroics back had put him in the mood to strike back on familiar territory, having grown up close to the national stadium.

“We saw a couple of videos yesterday which put us in the mood to get through to a cup final,” the winger said.

“Obviously I’ve grown up round here so it’s a dream come true. I scored at the Emirates too this week and now today so it’s been a double bubble for me. Now we look forward to the final.”