For the first time in history, Crystal Palace are FA Cup champions.
Eberechi Eze‘s 16th-minute strike proved to be the difference as the Eagles edged out Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley.
Palace’s finest hour also booked them a spot in next season’s Europa League having scooped their first major trophy.
Although Eze was the man on the scoresheet, Eagles gloveman Dean Henderson was arguably the most influential figure for Oliver Glasner’s side.
The 28-year-old produced six saves throughout the contest but none more important than his stunning stop to keep out Omar Marmoush‘s penalty in the 36th minute.
It was the ninth penalty Henderson had saved from the 22 he had faced in his professional career and it was perhaps the most important of the lot.
Henderson produced a string of other superb stops either side of his penalty save, including a fingertip effort to divert Jeremy Doku‘s shot away, to preserve the clean sheet.
However, some – including Wayne Rooney – thought Henderson was lucky not to have been sent off earlier in the first half.
Henderson was caught in two minds when a long ball was played over the top for Erling Haaland to run on to.
He swiped at the ball outside of his box, but avoided a red card because his actions denied Haaland a possible rather than an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
As for City, they struggled to fashion many clear-cut opportunities throughout the contest despite taking 23 shots and boasting 79 per cent of possession.
Substitute Claudio Echeverri, whose appearance doubled as his debut for City, had a golden chance to equalise towards the end when he was played in by skipper Kevin De Bruyne.
However, Echeverri could only direct his strike straight at Henderson.
How City could have done with someone who boasted a head as cool as Eze.
The 26-year-old showed remarkable composure when he volleyed home Daniel Munoz’s cross to spark jubilant scenes among the Palace fans.
It marked Eze’s third-straight FA Cup goal having netted in the quarter-final and semi-final against Fulham and Aston Villa respectively.
Palace thought they doubled their advantage when Daniel Munoz bundled home from close range early in the second half.
However, the goal was chalked off by VAR after the ball had deflected into Munoz’s path via Ismaila Sarr, who was offside.
More to follow…
