Brighton & Hove Albion 5 Grimsby Town 0
Albion will play in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium over the weekend of Saturday 22 April and Sunday 23 April.
It is the third time in almost 122 years that the Seagulls have made the last four of the competition.
Goals from Deniz Undav, two from Evan Ferguson, a diving header from Solly March and a last-minute effort from Kaoru Mitoma saw the Seagulls through.
Grimsby can be rightly proud to have become just the fifth fourth-tier team to have made it to the quarter-finals, even though their glorious Cup run was ended so decisively.
Eighteen-year-old Ferguson was the first to test the Mariners followed, less than five minutes later, by Moises Caicedo.
Max Crocombe couldn’t keep hold of the Ecuadorian midfielder’s shot and Undav was quick to capitalise, netting the rebound.
Mitoma, Undav, Caicedo and Pascal Gross all had a stab at adding to the Seagulls’ lead but it remained 1-0 at the break.
The second half was a different story as the Seagulls stepped up a gear, once again scoring after just six minutes of play.
Mac Allister played the ball to Ferguson who doubled Brighton’s lead – and six minutes later he looked to have doubled his own tally before a VAR check. The goal was disallowed for an offside
Grimsby had there best chance of the match as substitute John Macatee found in space but fired straight at Sanchez from close range
As Grimsby tired so Albion were able to push forward in numbers. Adam Webster hitting the bar from close range.
But with 20 minutes left on the clock, the teenager bagged his brace, having been supplied by
With just under 10 minutes left, Solly March got his head to a cracking cross from Adam Webster to make it 4-0.
And in the 90th minute, Gross played in Mitoma who struck from just outside the box to complete the rout.
UPDATE: Albion’s reward is a semi-final fixture at Wembley against Manchester United after the Reds beat nine-man Fulham 3-1.
