OLIVER Glasner was pleased with a “job done” as Crystal Palace eased past Doncaster Rovers 2-0 in the fourth round of the FA Cup to book as last-sixteen tie with Millwall at Selhurst Park.
Daniel Munoz tapped home on the half-hour mark at the Eco-Power Stadium before Justin Devenny – on his first start of 2025 – finished superbly early in the second half.
It was a night full of positives as Adam Wharton and Matheus França returned from their injury lay-offs and new signing Ben Chilwell made his debut.
“It is absolutely job done. The first 60 minutes I think we controlled the game. We scored two nice goals and missed one or two big chances to decide the game,” Glasner said.
“The last 20 minutes were maybe too wild, giving them too many finishes, but overall there were many positive aspects.
“Adam Wharton coming back was one. He was originally going to play 45 minutes, but he did so well and did great, that’s why he played 60 minutes.
“A debut for Ben Chilwell as well, 45 minutes for him was very important. Romain Esse got a longer time and I’m especially pleased for Matheus França who has been out for nine or ten months, getting some minutes back with the team.
“It was a really good evening for all of us.”
Glasner added: “I think they did well tactically, they man-marked our tens, Justin and Daichi [Kamada], with their sixes, so they always had a six against five in their back.
“That means we had a good build-up from the back, because there we had a five against four, six against four with the goalkeeper, and we didn’t have a lot of troubles coming into the final third.
“But there, the last pass was not good enough, and especially our wing-backs were too deep so that we didn’t run in behind. We scored a great set-play goal. Big credit to my staff for preparing this and also for the execution from the players.
“In the second half, they changed the system, they went man-to-man, and we struggled a little bit more in the build-up, because we had more pressure there, but on the other side we could create better chances, because they played man-to-man in defence as well. We missed it in the first fifteen minutes with, I think, three clear chances, and we just scored one.
“And then at the end with their long balls, with some set-plays, with crosses, they did really well. And then it’s okay, defended like we did, and so everything went how we expected it to.”
Palace won 2-1 at The Den in the third round in 2022and there is an added edge as the Eagles signed the Lions’ top-scorer this season, Esse, for £14.5million last month.
“For me, I knew about it a little bit, because when we talked with Romain I saw the rivalry between Millwall and Crystal Palace,” Glasner said.
“Then I could see as well that all the staff were very excited when we heard we could play Millwall at home in the last sixteen of the FA Cup.
“Of course it makes it bigger this game – it’s an all or nothing game – and of course we want to go into the quarter-finals. It would be a big achievement.
“But it is still far away for me. Doncaster is done and now we have to find focus for Everton. We’ve had our fourth [successive] away win but now we have to be ready for a really strong Everton side at home. And we will be ready.”
