Crystal Palace snatched a historic FA Cup final win over Premier League giants Manchester City after a 1-0 victory at Wembley on Saturday.
The victory marks just the third time the Eagles have made it to the final of English Football’s oldest competition, and winning it for the first time in the club’s history.
Palace beat seven-time winners Man City to etch their name in the history books of the competition, the win automatically qualifies the south London side for next season’s Europa League competition.
The Citizens started well by piling pressure on Palace, but Oliver Glasner’s men remained resolute in the early half of the first half, with Eberechi Eze scoring the game’s only goal after 16 minutes at Wembley.
Eze scored the only goal for Crystal Palace in their 1-0 victory against Man City in the 2024/25 FA Cup final.
Pep Guardiola’s side had the chance to go into parity when they were presented with a penalty in the 33rd minute, after Tyrick Mitchell’s sliding tackle missed the ball and took out Bernardo Silva instead.
However, Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson had other ideas, as the English shot-stopper saved the resulting spot-kick from Omar Marmoush in the 36th minute to keep Palace in the game.
Henderson’s penalty save made him the first keeper to save a penalty in an FA Cup final, excluding shootouts since Petr Cech for Chelsea against Portsmouth in 2010.
City’s frustration heightened when Palace keeper Dean Henderson was not shown a red card when he handled a ball outside his area under pressure from Erling Haaland in the first half.
After further checks by the video assistant referee (VAR), it was adjudged that City’s striker was moving away from goal and therefore not denied a clear opportunity.
Palace continued from where they left off in the first half, keeping City at bay with a low block and quick counter-attack play to further frustrate Guardiola’s side.
Palace thought they had increased their goal tally to 2-0 after a 58th-minute strike from Daniel Munoz in the second half, but the goal was disappointingly ruled out for an offside.
The London side then held onto their 1-0 lead until the final whistle, which came after an enduring 10 minutes of injury time.
Glasner’s team were obviously the underdogs coming into the final at Wembley, despite City having had a difficult season in the Premier League, and also losing to their neighbours and city rivals, Manchester United, in last year’s cup final.
The final whistle erupted scenes of utter bliss among Palace fans as the long wait for success was finally over for the Eagles.