Eberechi Eze scored the only goal as Crystal Palace stunned Manchester City in the FA Cup final to win their first-ever trophy.
Eberechi Eze scored the only goal of the encounter in the 16th minute to hand Crystal Palace their first major trophy in their 120-year history.
It was a frustrating evening for Manchester City as they struggled to beat Dean Henderson, who saved Omar Marmoush’s penalty in the 36th minute.
Manchester City have now lost two consecutive FA Cup finals after losing to Manchester United in 2024.
Pep Guardiola’s team ended the season without a major trophy for the first time since 2016-17.
Crystal Palace will play in the Europa League as a result of winning the FA Cup, after they became the first team to win it for the first time since Leicester City in 2021.
They are the first English club to win their first major title since Wigan Athletic in the 2012-13 FA Cup, who also beat Manchester City in the final that year.
England midfielder, Eberechi Eze further underlined his importance to Crystal Palace with arguably the biggest goal in the club’s history.
He was delighted to help the club end their age-long trophy drought at Wembley.
Eze said: “This is special, I don’t even know what to say. Thank God, only God could do this.
“Facing the team that’s been the best in the world for years, to show that type of spirit and energy… only God.
“I couldn’t breathe, Man City kept the ball so well, you have to work so hard to get anything from them. When you get in their box you have to make the chance to count.
“I’ve come a long way. To be in this position now – it’s hard to use the right words here.”
Similarly, Crystal Palace coach, Oliver Glasner was full of praise for his players for fighting hard to secure an historic win.
He said: “I can’t believe it, we had to defend so much. The spirit and togetherness on the pitch was amazing. It was all about being patient, we analysed that if you give them the pocket then they are so good.
“We had to be patient, let them cross, defend and wait for the moment to attack.
“They are so good in their movements, from the 5-2 defeat we learned that if you give them the pocket we will lose. we usually attack more but we had to be patient and wait for the right moment.
“When they play with four attacking players it’s difficult to defend, but in transition we knew we could create overloads. No winger likes to defend. It was a great goal.
Tomorrow’s training is already cancelled. The players want to cancel Monday too. Special credit to the players, they’ve never lost belief in me and the coaching staff.”
Crystal Palace chairman, Steve Parish was overjoyed, describing it as unbelievable.
He said: “Unbelievable. We owe them [Crystal palace] a trophy and we got them one today.
“This for everyone that has sent me a bit of encouragement when it has been going badly, all the people that don’t just have a go at you, all the people that believe – this is for them.
“I am so proud. The team, the fans, I honestly believed that we would win. That’s what Oliver’s [Glasner] done. He made us all believe. You could see it at the end. It is great for the cup, come on!”
Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola blamed his side inability to score while congratulating Crystal Palace.
He said: “We didn’t score so congratulations to Crystal Palace for the victory – we did everything.
“Today, we were more aggressive. If you’re not going to score goals, you’re not going to win.
“We performed really well, much better than last season against Man Utd. Football sometimes is like this. At the end with Claudio Echeverri, we created a chance. We controlled really well in transitions. Yes, unfortunately we couldn’t win, but congratulations Crystal Palace.”
Up next for Manchester City is a Premier League clash against Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Crystal Palace will return to action against Wolves on the same day.
