Rising Sarr: why Palace's bargain buy is a 'warrior'

Two semi-final goals against Aston Villa have been the highlights thus far of a fine debut season at Selhurst Park

- Ed Aarons

Ismaïla Sarr hasn't had many more memorable weeks. But most remarkable about his match-winning performance for Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa is that it came after his wife, Fatou, had given birth to twins a few days earlier. "It was a surprise - nobody knew," said the manager Oliver Glasner after Palace's thrilling victory at Wembley thanks to two goals from the Senegal forward.

Eberechi Eze said the BBC pundit Alan Shearer had awarded him player of the match "a bit prematurely" before Sarr's second. "I'll be giving this to him inside - he's a top player and he's helped us so much this season," the England forward said.

Sarr has gone largely under the radar at Palace, since his arrival last summer from Marseille, in a side that includes Eze, Adam Wharton and the larger-than-life striker Jean-Philippe Mateta. Yet at £12m plus bonuses, the 26-year-old has proved one of the bargains of the season, having scored 11 goals and turned himself into one of the first names on Glasner's team sheet as Palace look towards the FA Cup final date with Manchester City tomorrow.