Crystal Palace secured their first-ever major trophy on Saturday, upsetting Pep Guardiola`s Manchester City with a 1-0 victory in the FA Cup final. This marked Palace`s third appearance in the final, and they made it count. Eberechi Eze`s goal in the first half proved decisive, while for City, it meant a trophyless campaign for the first time since the 2016-17 season, and a defeat in what is set to be a swansong summer for club legend Kevin de Bruyne.
Among the winners were United States men`s national team players Chris Richards and Matt Turner. Richards played the entire match in defense, earning a winner`s medal alongside backup goalkeeper Turner.
Palace started the match strongly and took the lead after just 16 minutes. A neat interchange involving Jean-Philippe Mateta led to Daniel Munoz receiving the ball on the right. The right-back delivered a powerful low cross into the box, which Eberechi Eze expertly turned in at the far post.
However, Palace were fortunate to keep a full complement of players shortly after their goal. Goalkeeper Dean Henderson clearly handled the ball outside his penalty area. According to rules analysts, this incident should have resulted in a red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity, but neither the on-field officials nor VAR intervened.
Before halftime, Manchester City had a golden chance to equalize from the penalty spot after Bernardo Silva was fouled in the box. Omar Marmoush stepped up to take it, striking the ball towards the bottom corner, but Dean Henderson made a brilliant diving save. The rebound fell to Erling Haaland, but Henderson reacted quickly again to deny the striker`s follow-up attempt.
Henderson, a former Manchester United goalkeeper, delivered a memorable performance against his old rivals, making six saves from the 23 shots City fired at his goal. Despite City`s dominance in possession (79%) and significantly higher pass completion, they could not find a way past the inspired Palace keeper.
Early in the second half, Daniel Munoz thought he had doubled Palace`s lead by scoring from a rebound, but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside against Ismaila Sarr following a VAR review.
City continued to press relentlessly, finishing the game with 23 shots and an Expected Goals (xG) value of 2.30, but their efforts were ultimately in vain. The underdogs held firm to lift the historic trophy at Wembley Stadium, celebrating a momentous achievement with their passionate and jubilant supporters.
Benedict Kingsley