CRYSTAL PALACE 1, MAN CITY 0
Manchester City suffered heartbreak as Crystal Palace were ‘Glad All Over’ lifting the Emirates FA Cup, the first major honour in the club’s 120-year history.
In an upset reminiscent to 2013, when they were beaten in the final by Wigan Athletic, City were unable to find a way through Palace’s well-marshalled back line as they are finishing a disappointing season without silverware.
After losing to Manchester United in last year’s final, the FA Cup hasn’t been especially kind to Pep Guardiola who has lifted the cup only twice in his nine years as manager.
An early goal from Eberechi Eze proved decisive in the final when Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson was a pivotal figure.
Fortunate not to be send off for handling the ball outside the penalty area, Henderson later saved a spot kick from Omar Marmoush and made other important stops.
It was frustrating for Guardiola who would not be drawn on the controversial decision.
Guardiola could not fault the effort of his team which had 78.3 per cent possession and 23 goal attempts to Palace’s seven.
“We had chances, but unfortunately couldn’t score, and they defended very well,” he said.
“We haven’t scored for the last two games but played better than against Southampton [0-0].
“We were very good for many things but didn’t score.
“We played better than we did when we beat Palace 5-2 at home and also against United in last year’s final.”
The bottom line is that Haaland again failed to deliver on a big stage – he has not scored in six appearances at Wembley and in eight finals for City.
And Kevin De Bruyne, with 10 goals and 18 assists for City in the FA Cup, failed to add to those impressive figures in his last final before leaving the club.
Guardiola added the decision for Marmoush to take the penalty ahead of Erling Haaland was made on the pitch.
“I thought Haaland would take it but it is about how you feel at that moment and Omar was ready to take it,” he explained.
Guardiola added that Mateo Kovacic was ruled out through injury while Rico Lewis and James McAtee not involved because injuries had cleared leaving him with an abundance of riches.
Embed from Getty ImagesHe also explained why 19-year-old Argentine Claudio Jeremias Echeverri was handed a first-team debut as a substitute at Wembley saying it was based on what he had seen of the youngster in training.
Palace’s Oliver Glasner became only the third manager to beat Guardiola in a cup final after Jose Mourinho and Erik ten Hag.
He said: “I can’t believe it. It was our day, Crystal Palace’s day, one for our fans. We had to win.
“The players had to work so hard to keep a clean sheet. We have a great goalkeeper and the mentality to keep a clean sheet.
“City played ever so well and we could not put pressure on the ball. It was so hard to defend and we had to be patienr.
“It was 90 per cent about how well City played and 90 per cent about how well we defended.
“The spirit and togetherness on the pitch was amazing. 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 learned 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.”
Guardiola went for an ultra-attacking line-up with no recognised holding midfielder.
There were five changes in all with goalkeeper Stefan Ortega playing in his third consecutive FA Cup final while Nico O’Reilly, Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Marmoush all started.
Glasner made two changes to the side that beat Tottenham last time out.
The Eagles were boosted by the return to fitness of England midfielder Adam Wharton who came back into the side in place of Will Hughes. Daichi Kamada was also handed a start in place of Jefferson Lerma.
Haaland had an early chance as his sixth minute close-range effort from a De Bruyne cross was turned around the post by keeper Henderson who made a good reaction save.
City soon had another chance when Josko Gvardiol’s header from Savinho’s corner was fisted out by Henderson.
Manuel Akanji then saw a header from another Savinho corner land on the roof of the net as City dominated the opening stages.
Then against the run of play, Palace snatched a 16th minute lead on the counter.
Jean-Phillipe Mateta released Daniel Munoz who raced down the right and cross for Eze to sweep a shot from 12 yards low to the right of Ortega.
It was Eze’s 13th goal of the season and his sixth in his last five games as he is in a rich vein of form. He has also netted in each of his last five FA Cup appearances.
And Palace came close to a second when Munoz raced away again and cross for Ismaila Sarr whose shot forced a scrambling save from Ortega.
There was an anxious moment for Palace and a VAR check for a possible red card when Henderson appeared to handle outside the box to deny Haaland.
Henderson was clearly inside but his hand was borderline, but the match officials gave him the benefit of the doubt, but it was a huge call.
City were handed a way back into the game when they won a penalty after Bernardo Silva was brought down by Tyrick Mitchell, a decision upheld by VAR.
Haaland took told of the ball but, during the check, handed in to Marmoush whose 36th minute spt kick was superbly saved by Henderson diving low to his right. The keeper then dropped on to Haaland’s follow-up shot.
Haaland had missed three of his previous seven penalties which is presumably why the decision was made for Marmoush to take the kick which was the first penalty saved in the final since 2010 when Peter Cech was Chelsea’s hero.
Henderson’s heroics continued with a flying save to deny Doku who cut in from the left before letting fly.
City started the second half on the front foot with Docku bending a shot just over the bar.
Palace were celebrating again when they had the ball in the net for a second time just short of the hour.
But their joy was short-lived as VAR ruled out Munoz’s effort for offside.
Munoz’s initial shot deflected off Sarr, who was clearly offside, before being parried by Ortega. Munoz, following up, squeezed the ball home from the tightest of angles.
Guardiola made his first two changes with 14 minutes left as Marmoush and Savinho made way for Foden and debutant Echeverri.
And Echeverri had an early chance to cover himself in glory. Played through on goal by De Bruyne, Henderson made another huge save, this time a brilliant block.
Guardiola made a third chance in the 88th minute, Gundogan for Silva.
There were 10 minutes of stoppage time but City huffed and puffed and never came close to equalising and forcing extra time as Palace celebrated to their theme, The Dave Clark Five’s hit ‘Glad All Over’ which belted out at the final whistle.