Crystal Palace have won their first major trophy in the club’s 120-year history after beating Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday.
The only goal of the game came in the 16th minute from Eberechi Eze, the Nigerian-born England midfielder. He finished off a fast counter-attack with a calm volley past City’s goalkeeper, Stefan Ortega.
Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson was the hero of the match, making several key saves and stopping a penalty from Omar Marmoush in the first half. City players were unhappy that Henderson wasn’t sent off earlier for handling the ball outside the penalty area, but VAR ruled it wasn’t an obvious goal-scoring chance.
Palace, who had lost FA Cup finals in 1990 and 2016, defended strongly after taking the lead. Coach Oliver Glasner set up his team to sit deep and catch City on the break — and it worked perfectly.
Manchester City, who have dominated English football in recent years under manager Pep Guardiola, were poor once again in a cup final. Guardiola left out a defensive midfielder and went with a very attacking line-up, a risky decision that did not pay off.
The defeat marks a disappointing season for City, who are currently sixth in the Premier League and have already crashed out of the Champions League. It will be their first season without a trophy since 2017.
With this famous win, Crystal Palace also qualify for next season’s UEFA Europa League, adding to the joy of their historic day.
