May 19 – After 119 years of trying (and quite a bit of crying), Crystal Palace finally got their hands on some silverware, beating Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley to claim the FA Cup. Yes, you read that right – Manchester City, the mini-state juggernaut, were undone by a team whose trophy cabinet would fit under Pep Guardiola’s left fingernail, the one he scratches himself with.
Eberechi Eze’s sublime 16th-minute volley proved to be the difference, striking his shot with all the precision of a Swiss watchmaker and twice the style. Meanwhile, City looked about as threatening as a wet paper bag, wandering around Wembley like little boys who’d lost their fare back to Manchester.
The hero of the hour was undoubtedly Palace keeper, Dean Henderson, who pulled off saves that would have made Spider-Man jealous. The Palace keeper not only denied Omar Marmoush from the penalty spot but somehow escaped a red card that on the face of it looked a stone cold certainty. Henderson’s performance was so good, you half expected him to start levitating.
Oliver Glasner’s tactical masterclass was beautifully simple: give City the ball and dare them to do something with it. Spoiler alert – they couldn’t. The Austrian coach set up his Eagles to sit deep and counter with the speed and sting of a wasp, and City had no answer to their own question.
The goal itself was pure poetry in motion. Daniel Muñoz, the Colombian rocket down the right flank, delivered a cross so perfect it belonged in an art gallery. Eze, arriving fashionably late like the coolest guest at the party, guided his volley past Stefan Ortega with the kind of composure that suggested he’d been winning FA Cup finals his entire life.
As for City, this was peak ‘annus horribilis’ material. Erling Haaland went missing faster than your motivation on a Monday morning after a weekend party, spending most of the match firmly lodged in Chris Richards’ back pocket. The Norwegian striker even backed off taking the penalty, perhaps sensing that Henderson was in one of those moods where he could have caught a bullet.
Ismaïla Sarr continued his campaign for “’Signing of the Century’, bossing the midfield with the authority of a $50m million player. The Senegalese made City’s star-studded lineup look like they’d been picked up from Sunday league tryouts.
The only sour note came after the final whistle when Pep Guardiola took the bait from Henderson’s sledging like a fish spotting a particularly shiny lure. For a man who’s won everything there is to win, getting wound up by Palace’s keeper wasn’t his finest moment.
For Palace, this victory means European football and an end to decades of ‘what if’ conversations in South London pubs. For City, it’s back to the drawing board in what’s shaping up to be Guardiola’s worst nightmare of a season. Sometimes David really does beat Goliath – especially when Goliath forgets to bring his shooting boots to Wembley.
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