3 weeks ago
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Now Crystal Palace have secured their place in the last four of the FA Cup, it's hard to believe that they did not win their first game of the Premier League season until late October.
The Eagles had won two games in the Carabao Cup against Championship opposition, but tension was starting to build around Selhurst Park before that much-needed victory over Tottenham in their ninth league game of the season.
The memories of those struggles are far in the past now as supporters and those around the club begin to look forward to a trip to Wembley after an impressive 3-0 win away at Fulham, having last reached the semi-finals in 2022.
The Eagles have never won the FA Cup and have lost twice in the final, in 1990 and 2016, but can dream of lifting the first major trophy in their history, which dates back to 1861 depending on which historian you believe.
Their turnaround has been masterminded by manager Oliver Glasner and since the start of 2025, only Liverpool (11) have won more games in all competitions among Premier League sides than Glasner's Palace (10).
The Eagles, with eight, have also recorded more clean sheets than any other English top-flight side in that time.
Glasner has always said he knew the start of the season would be tricky after a summer where they lost star player Michael Olise to Bayern Munich, had a large part of their squad involved in major tournaments and had four players sign on deadline day.
It's taken time for all of those factors to settle down but in Glasner's trusted 3-4-2-1 formation, the Eagles are highly organised and have built real momentum as they approach the end of the season.
Palace have lost just twice in their past 15 games - which is all the more impressive when somehow they have only managed to win three games at home in the league all season.
The Eagles' back three of Chris Richards, Maxence Lacroix and Marc Guehi is as solid a unit as you will find across the Premier League.
Glasner was asked by BBC Sport if the match against Fulham, in which the visitors were under pressure at the start before finishing strongly, mirrored their season and the exciting end it could have.
"The season is not over. If this is the end today I wouldn't be happy," Glasner said.
"I think this is just the start of our crunch time. Two months now, hopefully we have 12 games to play.
"The good thing is we are in a good momentum and the players are in a good shape.
"The next two months we always stay together and we have many games and we can get into our best shape again.
"I think today, especially at the beginning, we were far away from this. We need to be at our best to win as many games as possible."
The Crystal Palace supporters were singing about their trip to Wembley but Glasner would not be drawn on his thoughts on what it would mean if his side were able to lift a trophy at the national stadium.
"I don't want to talk about winning a trophy because even in the next game we can't win a trophy. It is just the semi-finals," he said.
"When you enter a cup competition it doesn't matter if you lose in round number one or the semi-finals, we enter the competition to win it.
"It is a great achievement to play the semi-final and especially in that environment at Wembley as it is always something special."
Glasner said he has been to Wembley three times and only ever on the Tube. Twice to watch England play and once when he dropped his daughter off to watch a Taylor Swift concert.
One of those visits to the stadium was on Monday night as Glasner watched Eberechi Eze score his first goal for his country against Latvia.
It has taken Eze time to adjust to life at Palace without Olise and the England international's goal against Fulham was just his fifth of the season.
"I think Ebs is having quite a strange season," Glasner said. "Because he does not have many goals in the Premier League but he has had so many chances.
"So unlucky in so many situations, disallowed goals, deflected goals, hitting the post - he always keeps going.
"He has struggled with injuries, some strange injuries. I think his goal against Latvia, first goal for England, means a lot for him as a person and has helped him.
"He always has the confidence. We all know that he is an amazing finisher and that he can cut in on his right foot.
"We need this quality especially in his finishing and he helped us today."
