Crystal Palace goalkeeper reveals his mindset in key moment during Wembley heroics
Dean Henderson has said that he knew he would save Omar Marmoush’s penalty before the winger took it. The Crystal Palace No.1 delivered the biggest stop of his career at Wembley as his side delivered a disciplined performance to win the FA Cup against Manchester City.
The match ended 1-0 after an early goal from Eberechi Eze ensured that Palace pipped City to the trophy. Henderson produced the crucial save just 15 minutes after Eze’s goal, diving to his right to deny Marmoush and preserve the narrow lead.
“To be fair, [Erling] Haaland might have stepped up,” Henderson told BBC Sport after the match. “He gave it to Marmoush and I knew which way he was going. I knew I would save it.”
The 27-year-old stopper was in the spotlight for another incident, after he dashed off his line to stop Haaland but handled the ball just outside the box. The England man narrowly avoided a red card after a controversial VAR review. Officials said that the decision not to send off the goalkeeper was because Haaland had turned the ball away from goal and thus did not have a clear goalscoring opportunity.
In response, Henderson said: “The ball carried into my penalty box and I knew it was fine – who cares?”
Speaking further on the match he added: “We were incredible today. We had a feeling it would be our day. The manager got a gameplan and we executed it. We deserve this so much.”
