Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester City: Oliver Glasner’s side win the Eagles’ first-ever trophy
It was a day that Crystal Palace fans will talk about forever, and one that Manchester City fans can mark as symbolic of their fall from power.
A packed Wembley stadium provided the kind of atmosphere that summarised what football is all about. At the start, flames and fireworks, red and blue, were unleashed all over the pitch. The sky itself added colour and glamour. The stage was set. Fans roared all around the stands, the entire ground bubbling like a cauldron.
The game, when they finally got down to it, delivered all that was promised, and then some. A brilliant one-handed save from a penalty, deadly counter-attacking, a VAR check, another VAR check, a controversial decision not to give a red card, a penalty awarded, a penalty not awarded. It was a classic FA Cup final in all its glory.
Palace fans came believing strongly in their chances, which either points to the mid-table team’s growth, or the decline of their bigger opponents. Their voices echoed as they sang and chanted.
The last time both sides met, at the Etihad, Palace cut City open in the first half hour and went 2-0 up, but the Sky Blues rallied through their departing legend Kevin De Bruyne and eventually won 5-2. It may have been a disappointing loss for Palace but it showed that they could muster enough attacking power to hurt City. They just had to do it at the biggest stage in England and then be better in defence.
Before the game Palace coach Oliver Glasner said: “We expect City to have more of the ball, as they do against most teams, especially as they have picked a very attacking line-up.
“It’s a little bit similar to how Villa played, with lots of attacking players, but that gives you space for transitions. That’s what we need to wait for. We have to be very efficient when we get chances.”
It turned out to be exactly that. It was 87 per cent possession at a time for the Sky Blues, but Palace sat calmly and soaked it all in. There didn’t seem to be that eagerness and urgency about City’s passing, though, at least not in the way that underlined the days of their glory. There wasn’t as much of that sense of danger and inevitability as they shifted the ball around the opponent’s area.
When they did get chances, Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson proved adamant. City’s first attempt came when De Bruyne hooked the ball over the Palace backline, in a way that only De Bruyne could do so comfortably, but Erling Haaland’s clipped effort was just trapped by Henderson as it slowly crept towards goal. The goalkeeper would go on to have more special moments. He parried Josko Gvardiol’s comfortable header from a corner. He was on hand when De Bruyne’s clever pass in the second half put Claudio Echeverri through on goal, though the Argentine should have done better. Then he pulled off a one-handed save to deny the barelling Jeremy Doku.
For Palace, it was an exercise of patience in defending and then hunger in attack when their moment came. The goal, when it arrived, was lightning-quick. In the 16th minute Jean-Philippe Mateta held the ball up when a pass was put into him at the centre circle, and the Eagles were able to counter. Daniel Munoz bolted down the right and then squared into the area, the arriving Eberechi Eze met it and, with Palace’s first blow, struck an arrow into City’s heart.
Just after the goal, Ismaila Sarr almost had a chance to score another, but city goalie Stefan Ortega was able to save. The Palace engine sputtered just after the half hour when Tyrick Mitchell needlessly fouled Bernardo Silva in the box and City were awarded a penalty, but Henderson came to the rescue again, diving low to the right at full stretch and pulling off an exquisite save.
As the clock ticked away, City took up even more possession of the ball, but Palace kept their defensive shape. Late in the game, Henderson was forced into another excellent save to his left to deny Echeverri. Palace weathered the storm. Ten minutes were added on. The defending side had become weary, but their fans cheered on, the first-ever trophy in the history of the club almost within their grasp. Five minutes away. A minute away. Full time and Palace fans finally exploded.
