Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City: Eagles' wait for a major title finally ends as Eberechi Eze goal writes history | OneFootball

FA Cup glory means Selhurst Park will host European football next season

Crystal Palace’s long wait for a major trophy is finally over after they battled to a nervy one-goal win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

It is third time lucky for the Eagles, who had suffered cup final heartbreak in 1990 and 2016, and will finally see red and blue ribbons adorn a trophy at Wembley Stadium. They threw themselves into every tackle, every duel, and every block with gusto as they turned over Pep Guardiola’s Man City machine and wrote themselves into the history books.

They finished the match with just 21% possession and seven shots to City’s 23, but were clinical when it counted. Eberechi Eze’s 16th-minute goal ultimately made the difference, while Dean Henderson also emerged a hero after saving an Omar Marmoush penalty in the first half to preserve Palace’s lead.

The opener came against the run of play. Man City started the match in their usual patient style, holding possession and generating impressive if inconsequential passing statistics, managing a handful of shots against the nervous Henderson but ultimately struggling to create. Just when City looked to be at their most comfortable, though, Palace struck. Daniel Munoz blitzed down the right flank and squared to Eze, who fired home to open the scoring with one of his first touches to raise a deafening roar from the blue-and-red striped sections of the stadium.

The state of the game grew slightly more frenetic after the goal, City continuing to enjoy the majority of the possession but displaying more urgency in their attacks. Their pressure paid off late in the half as Tyrick Mitchell dove in on Bernardo Silva in the box, clumsily tripping the Portuguese to hand City an all too easy route back into the tie.

But then Henderson intervened. Earlier in the match he had stumbled out of bounds after claiming a high ball to give away a free corner, later appearing to handle the ball outside the box to prevent an Erling Haaland chance. But all previous offences were forgotten as he got a strong hand behind Omar Marmoush’s spot-kick and bounced back to his feet to deny Haaland’s rebound. He would pull off another crucial stop minutes later, at full stretch to keep out Jeremy Doku’s curling effort.

City continued to attack in numbers after the break, Savinho posing a particular threat as he terrorised Mitchell on the right flank, but City could not capitalise, thwarted at every juncture by more Palace heroics. Munoz got involved with a stunning block to prevent a Nico O’Reilly shot shortly after having a goal ruled out for offside.

Thousands of anxious supporters watched on as the fourth official announced 10 minutes of added time. The late Man City introduction of debutant Claudio Echeverri threatened to burst the Palace bubble as the 19-year-old led attack after valiant attack, but the Eagles dug in - Doku hit a tame effort wide with seconds remaining to all but extinguish Man City’s dreams of an eighth FA Cup title.

In South London, the party will rage on long into the night. They have waited over a century for a first title, and their patience has been rewarded.