By Samuel A. May 18, 2025
Crystal Palace won the first major trophy in the club’s history with victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley. Eberechi Eze was Palace’s hero when he crowned a superb counter attack by sweeping home Daniel Munoz’s cross, 16 minutes into the game.
City, meanwhile, endured a day of total frustration as they failed to win a trophy in a season for the first time since manager Pep Guardiola’s first campaign in charge in 2016/17.
They were furious when Palace keeper Dean Henderson was not shown a red card when he handled outside his area under pressure from Erling Haaland in the first half, the video assistant referee (VAR) adjudging that City’s striker was moving away from goal and therefore not denied a clear opportunity. Henderson then emerged as Palace’s hero when he saved Omar Marmoush’s penalty after 36 minutes following Tyrick Mitchell’s foul on Bernardo Silva, Haaland surprisingly stepping aside from spot kick duties after failing with three of his past seven attempts.
City dominated possession but Oliver Glasner’s side defended magnificently, with Henderson outstanding, saving from Haaland, Josko Gvardiol and Jeremy Doku in the first half, then denying Claudio Echeverri after the break. The final whistle sparked scenes of ecstasy among Palace fans as the long wait for success was over for the Eagles.
Palace manager Glasner added: “I thought, ‘Why don’t you kick the ball?’ Then I had my fingers crossed the VAR didn’t intervene.To be honest, I can’t really believe it. When you play this game 10 times, you win it once, and this happened today. The goal was the first time we were in their half and then we just defended with every single part of the body. I’m really proud of the team and the whole staff. All the credit to them. When you always stick together and support each other, you deserve it. It’s a special win for our fans.”
Palace defended superbly throughout and had to rely on Henderson’s saves. They thought Munoz had doubled their lead but his initial shot hit team-mate Ismaila Sarr before he turned in at the second attempt. Echeverri was thrown on for his City debut in the final 15 minutes and was twice denied by Henderson when well positioned in the box.
There were 10 minutes of added time and still City couldn’t find a way past Henderson, who Guardiola confronted at full-time.
“I went to shake his hand, but I think he was disappointed with the time-wasting,” said Henderson. “I said, ‘You got the 10 minutes you wanted’. No hard feelings.” Guardiola responded: “It’s time-wasting. I understand in the last minutes, but since the one or two minutes? He’s British, in English football, you have to play. My team, I never try to do it because I try to play the game like the people deserve to watch.”
