Roy Hodgson must be sick of the sight of Watford. A third 2-1 defeat of the season by Javi Gracia’s side, after a late winner from the substitute Andre Gray dashed Crystal Palace’s chances of reaching Wembley, will certainly not live long in the memory for their manager and his erstwhile assistant Ray Lewington, who had been hailed by the home supporters on his return to Vicarage Road. Yet, without the injured Wilfried Zaha, at least Palace finally showed some fighting spirit through Michy Batshuayi’s equaliser after Étienne Capoue had opened the scoring in the first half.

But having seen his players given the runaround by the impressive Gerard Deulofeu and Roberto Pereyra for most of a blustery afternoon, Hodgson could have no real complaints about this result – even if he dismissed suggestions that defeat could prove beneficial to a side still not safe from relegation. “It’s never a good thing to lose,” he said. “It was always going to be a tight game and, when we equalised, I thought we were in with every chance we could have gone on to win it. But unfortunately it was Watford who did.”

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Nearly 35 years since their solitary appearance in the FA Cup final under Graham Taylor, Watford now have the chance under Gracia to emulate that famous side by reaching the Wembley showpiece match in May for a second time.

The Spaniard’s name reverberated around the stadium at the final whistle as the veteran goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes – who is planning to take up a new career as a pastor at the end of the season – wept tears of joy. “When the team was suffering in the second half they were very important for the team,” Gracia said of his club’s fans. “I think they really lifted our players.”

The absence of Zaha – so often the pantomime villain in these parts in recent years – when he was ruled out with a hamstring injury certainly aided Watford’s prospects as they went in search of revenge for the defeat in the semi-finals three years ago at Wembley.

Watford had never lost an FA Cup tie to the south Londoners in four previous games at Vicarage Road and, having emerged victorious in both league matches this season, they looked the better team throughout the first half and could easily have gone ahead in the 16th minute when Deulofeu’s shot was well saved by Vicente Guaita. They did not have to wait long to take the lead, however, as the Spanish goalkeeper’s fumble from a corner allowed Capoue to stick out an instinctive foot and stab the ball into the net.

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It could have been even worse for the visitors had Guaita not been alert enough to save from Deulofeu once again seconds after the restart as Palace looked in danger of being blown away in the swirling wind. The visitors simply had to improve in the second half and could have equalised within four minutes had Max Meyer connected properly with Andros Townsend’s corner, with Gomes doing just enough to claw the ball away.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Heurelho Gomes dives to make a save. Photograph: Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Batshuayi, who scored in the crucial league wins at Leicester and Burnley, also snatched at a half-chance moments before his equaliser – a passage of play that will surely give Adrian Mariappa nightmares. The former Palace defender was put under pressure by a poor goal-kick from Gomes but his failure to clear allowed the Belgium striker on loan from Chelsea to race through and slot into the far corner for his sixth goal in the competition from 10 appearances.

More good work from Batshuayi could have resulted in a second, only for Meyer once more to fluff his lines in the box. Abdoulaye Doucouré was the next to have his head in his hands after somehow contriving to volley over following yet another save from Guaita at the other end.

Given the nature of those misses, it was always likely to take something special to win this match and such a moment came 10 minutes from time in the form of Pereyra’s cross for Gray to volley home, two minutes after he had come off the bench, to send Watford back to Wembley for another crack.