Crystal Palace won the 2024/25 FA Cup after a stunning 1-0 win over Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday.
The Eagles were a huge underdog and showed City plenty of respect from the start, giving Pep Guardiola’s side plenty of space in the early stages as they sought to punish them with counter-attacks.
Palace did so on 16 minutes when the dynamic Daniel Muñoz burst down the right wing and picked up a pass from Eberechi Eze, who slotted the ball neatly past Stefan Ortega to give his side the lead.
The drama was mounting as, less than ten minutes later, City were demanding a red card for Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who had clearly handled the ball outside the penalty area in a desperate attempt to stop Erling Haaland.
VAR reviewed the incident and, controversially, ruled that Haaland’s angle of attack did not constitute a clear goal-scoring opportunity. No penalty was awarded – a decision that would be reinforced when Henderson faced a penalty from Omar Marmoush shortly afterwards.
Henderson made a powerful save to his right to deny the January signing, leaving everyone involved in City’s pursuit wondering if the Palace goalkeeper was even on the pitch in the first place.
Palace were forced to rely on their luck at times and thought they had a second goal early in the second half. Muñoz cleared the ball from close range but the chance was only presented to them after an early shot was deflected off Ismaïla Sarr who was offside. VAR did not take long to rule out the goal.
Tensions rose around the edge of the pitch as City began to lose their nerve. Debutant Claudio Echeverri then missed a chance to equalise as the towering Chris Richards continued to fend off any threat.
10 minutes of added time saw Palace defend themselves on the edge of the box. A volley from Kevin De Bruyne went wide, and the Eagles also survived a handball scare, but held firm to secure the biggest win in the club’s history.
For Palace, it was their first major trophy in their history, but the win also brought the prize of playing in the Europa League next season with Oliver Glasner’s side.
On the other hand, the defeat meant City suffered their first trophyless season since Guardiola’s first season at the club in 2016–17.