Crystal Palace Stun Man City To Win FA Cup
Crystal Palace stunned Manchester City 1-0 to win the FA Cup trophy at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Eberechi Eze scored the only goal of the encounter in the 16th minute to hand Crystal Palace their first major trophy in their 120-year history.
It was a frustrating evening for Manchester City as they struggled to beat Dean Henderson, who saved Omar Marmoush’s penalty in the 36th minute.
Manchester City have now lost two consecutive FA Cup finals after losing to Manchester United in 2024.
Pep Guardiola’s team ended the season without a major trophy for the first time since 2016-17.
Crystal Palace will play in the Europa League as a result of winning the FA Cup after they became the first team to win it for the first time since Leicester City in 2021.
They are the first English club to win their first major title since Wigan Athletic in the 2012-13 FA Cup, who also beat Manchester City in the final that year.
England midfielder Eberechi Eze further underlined his importance to Crystal Palace with arguably the biggest goal in the club’s history.
He was delighted to help the club end their age-long trophy drought at Wembley.
Eze said, “This is special; I don’t even know what to say. Thank God; only God could do this.
“Facing the team that’s been the best in the world for years, to show that type of spirit and energy… only God.
“I couldn’t breathe. Man City kept the ball so well; you have to work so hard to get anything from them. When you get in their box, you have to make the chance count.
“I’ve come a long way. To be in this position now – it’s hard to use the right words here.”
Similarly, Crystal Palace coach Oliver Glasner was full of praise for his players for fighting hard to secure a historic win.
He said, “I can’t believe it; we had to defend so much. The spirit and togetherness on the pitch were amazing. It was all about being patient; we analysed that if you give them the pocket, then they are so good.
“We had to be patient, let them cross, defend and wait for the moment to attack.
“They are so good in their movements; from the 5-2 defeat, we learnt that if you give them the pocket, we will lose. We usually attack more, but we had to be patient and wait for the right moment.
“When they play with four attacking players, it’s difficult to defend, but in transition, we knew we could create overloads. No winger likes to defend. It was a great goal.
Tomorrow’s training is already cancelled. The players want to cancel Monday, too. Special credit to the players; they’ve never lost belief in me and the coaching staff.”
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola blamed his side’s inability to score while congratulating Crystal Palace.
He said, “We didn’t score, so congratulations to Crystal Palace for the victory – we did everything.
“Today, we were more aggressive. If you’re not going to score goals, you’re not going to win.
“We performed really well, much better than last season against Man Utd. Football sometimes is like this. At the end, with Claudio Echeverri, we created a chance. We controlled really well in transitions. Yes, unfortunately, we couldn’t win, but congratulations, Crystal Palace.”
Up next for Manchester City is a Premier League clash against Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Crystal Palace Stun Man City To Win FA Cup is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
