Eberechi Eze was not for coaxing so had to be manhandled by his teammates before taking his place at the front of the post-match celebrations.
There, the reluctant showman took centre stage and danced with his adoring masses in red-and-blue as they belted out another chorus of the song reworked in his honour.
Eze’s on fire. And how. The creative heartbeat of this wonderfully balanced Crystal Palace team has not glanced backwards in 33 days since scoring his first England goal at Wembley Stadium.
That deflected goal against Latvia was followed by a peach against Fulham in the FA Cup quarter final, another at Manchester City and a sizzling volley against Arsenal on Wednesday.
Back at Wembley, on Saturday, he sent Palace on their way to the FA Cup final with another sublime strike into the same net. Eze, when on fire, does not mess round with the tap-in.
This one screamed into the top corner from 20 yards, a goal to break the semi-final open against Aston Villa and, although Ismaila Sarr scored twice in the second half, it was Eze who put Palace in control with his ninth goal of the season.
Crystal Palace are in the FA Cup final after beating Aston Villa 3-0 in breathtaking fashion
Eberechi Eze scored the opener for Palace with an explosive strike from outside the area
Ismaila Sarr struck twice in the second half to help fire the Eagles to their third FA Cup final
Palace will return for the final against Nottingham Forest or Manchester City.
Villa’s campaign, however, is unravelling at speed. Out of Europe, albeit in fighting style, they lost late at Manchester City in midweek and have now been crushed in the FA Cup.
Emery will not want to see Oliver Glasner again in a hurry. Their teams have met five times inside the last year. Villa have lost four of them.
Palace knocked them out of the League Cup in October, took a point from Villa Park in November, put four past them at Selhurst Park in February, and five past them in May last year.
In truth, this could have been more emphatic. Jean-Philippe Mateta had a goal ruled out and missed a penalty.
Villa, with Marcus Rashford absent through injury, summoned a late spell of pressure but were held at arm’s length by Palace.
Glasner’s team started to take a grip on the game midway through the first half when their pressing forced Villa into mistakes in possession, especially in deep areas.
First, Mateta had the goal ruled out. He muscled Ezri Konsa off the ball and beat Emi Martinez coolly only to find referee Anthony Taylor had given a foul.
Eze left Villa and Emi Martinez dumbfounded when he smashed in the opener from long ranhge
Jean-Philippe Mateta saw his penalty hit the post in a nervy start to the second half
But Sarr doubled Palace’s lead to spare Mateta’s blushes with a low strike from outside the box
And Sarr outpaced Ezri Konsa to reach a through ball and finish the game in stoppage time
It was innocuous and a fortunate escape for Konsa. VAR did not get involved to overrule, but two minutes later, Martinez was beaten again. This time by Eze’s screamer. And this time it would not be disallowed.
Sarr grafted to create the chance. He closed down Pau Torres and chased wide to retrieve the loose ball, then skipped past Lucas Digne and rolled a square pass in Eze’s direction, inviting him to come inside hit it first time with his right foot.
Eze took his cue, raced onto it and sent it swerving towards a top corner, fizzing past Martinez before he could focus on it.
Villa had more adventure once behind, although their main threat in the first half came from set pieces. Torres headed over and Dean Henderson made a fine low save from a header by Konsa.
Palace though, are at their most dangerous when offered space on the break. Mateta powered past Konsa and produced a cross which Sarr, arriving at the back post, did not anticipate in time. He met the ball but could not direct his header on goal and Villa survived.
They survived another scare on the counter just before the interval, when a shot by Marco Asensio was blocked by Lacroix and Glasner’s team sprang out. Adam Wharton swept a pass to Sarr and Tyrick Mitchell arrived to meet his low cross only to miskick completely.
When Villa made a strong start to the second half they Henderson in the way, with saves from John McGinn, a fairly routine push over, and the second his best of the game, low to his left to keep out a sweet effort from 20 yards by Digne.
Palace were awarded a penalty in the 51st minute. Boubacar Kamara tripped Eze as the England forward moved onto a pass by Wharton, who grew in influence as the game opened up. There did not seem much doubt about the decision despite the delay for VAR.
Oliver Glasner’s men will hope to win Palace a first major trophy in their history
Unai Emery’s wait for a first trophy with Aston Villa will extend into next season
Palace reportedly brought around 35,000 supporters to a carnivalesque Wembley
Mateta stepped up to take it and missed. Martinez celebrated so wildly it seemed he must have made the save. In fact, the Villa goalkeeper went the right way but did not touch the ball, it kissed a post on its way wide.
Again, as with the goal ruled out in the first half, Palace punished Villa before they could refocus.
Wharton snapped in to win a tackle on Youri Tielemans in midfield and Mateta nursed a first-time pass to Sarr, who unleashed another brilliant finish from outside the penalty area, beating Martinez low, inside his right-hand post.
Emery made changes in search of a solution. Leon Bailey, one of those thrown on, almost pulled a goal back in a scramble, when a shot was deflected over by a heap of players.
But Henderson kept a tidy goal, well shielded by those ahead of him and Sarr burst away for his second in stoppage time.
It was his seventh in six starts against Villa and made the scoreline truer and more reflective of the contest. And sent Palace singing and dancing into their first FA Cup final since 2016.
