Eze does it, as Palace stuns City

LONDON — Crystal Palace pulled off one of the biggest FA Cup final upsets in history by stunning mighty Manchester City and lifting the famous trophy for the first time.

Eberechi Eze's strike sealed a 1-0 victory at Wembley Stadium on Saturday and secured Palace's first major trophy. The result also ensured that once-dominant City ended a campaign empty-handed for the first time in eight years.

"It was Crystal Palace's day. It was a day for our fans, and it just had to happen that we win," Palace manager Oliver Glasner said. "I got this feeling during the season that we can achieve incredible things."

As cup final upsets go, this was up there with Wigan's victory over City in 2013 and Wimbledon's iconic win against Liverpool in 1988.

The outcome might have been different if Omar Marmoush had converted a first-half penalty to level the score, but his effort was saved by Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

City had nearly 77 percent possession and took 23 shots. Palace absorbed it all, and tried to hit City on the occasional break.

The Palace players were handed their medals and the trophy by Prince William, sparking more delirious celebrations from their fans.

"We owed them a trophy and we got them one," Palace co-owner and chairman Steve Parish said.

"All the people that stick with you and believe, it is for them.

"It's great for the cup as well."

The historic triumph came at the third time of asking for Palace, which lost its previous finals in 1990 and 2016, both to Manchester United.

'Nothing to regret'

City has suffered back-to-back defeats in the final, having also lost to Man United last year.

While the result will go down as an upset, in the context of City's season, it was just the latest in a string of disappointments.

A troubled campaign has seen Pep Guardiola's team tamely surrender the Premier League title after an unprecedented four successive triumphs and crash out of the Champions League in the playoffs.

City's form has been so bad by its high standards, that it is still in danger of failing to qualify for next season's Champions League with two games to go.

Its priority now is to secure a place in the Premier League top five that would gain entry to European club soccer's top competition, while the Club World Cup in the United States next month offers a shot at some glory in the offseason.

"We did everything. Nothing to regret," Guardiola said.

"We are sad because we didn't win, but we played much better — better than we did against United last season."

No penalty for Haaland

Despite its troubles, City went into the sun-soaked final as the overwhelming favorite, as Guardiola looked to collect his 16th major trophy for the club.

But, in front of more than 84,000 spectators, Palace went ahead in the 16th minute when Eze swept home Daniel Munoz's cross from inside the box at the end of a swift counterattack.

"I couldn't breathe," Eze said.

Marmoush's moment came 20 minutes later, when Tyrick Mitchell brought down Bernardo Silva and referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot.

Despite City's top scorer Erling Haaland being on the field, Marmoush placed the ball, and his low shot into the corner was pushed away by Henderson, unleashing almost as big a roar as Eze's goal.

It was a big call for Marmoush to take the shot given Haaland's record-breaking scoring run since joining City in 2022.

"I didn't speak with them about the penalty," Guardiola said. "They make a decision, penalties are like that. I like guys who take initiative. They decide.

"I thought he (Haaland) would want to take it, but they didn't speak," said Guardiola. "That moment for the penalty, it's the feeling and how they feel. They decided Omar was ready to take it.

"Omar took a lot of time when the ball was stopped, so it put more pressure on him, and Henderson made a good save."

Henderson controversy

There was debate about whether Henderson should have even been on the field to save the spot kick, after the keeper handled the ball outside the area when Haaland was running through on goal.

VAR deemed it was not a red card offense.

Guardiola's frustrations with Henderson saw him confront the keeper after the final whistle — but his complaints appeared to be more about alleged time wasting.

"I understand in the last minutes (time wasting), but since the one or two minutes ... he's British. You know, in English football you have to play," Guardiola said. "In my teams I never tried (time wasting) because I try to play the game the people deserve to watch."

In the second half, City did get the benefit of a video review when a goal from Munoz was ruled out for offside.

History-maker Glasner

Glasner was hired in the middle of last season; the Austrian coach's biggest success was leading Eintracht Frankfurt to the Europa League title in 2022.

But, Palace and its fans started to believe in him quickly after the team began posting all kinds of milestones, including ending Liverpool's winning streak at Anfield, a season double against United, a record Premier League score and a top-10 finish.

Glasner has not just led Palace to its first major trophy, but a place in next season's Europa League.

"We wanted to write history," Glasner said. "Now, we have written a really big chapter."

Agencies Via Xinhua