Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester City
Crystal Palace are finally the FA Cup champions after a heroic performance on a historic day at Wembley, as Manchester City ended the season without a trophy.
Oliver Glasner became the first Austrian manager to lift the FA Cup and it was a sweet revenge for the Palace boss who had warned Pep Guardiola he would come back for him after Manchester City hammered his team 5-2 not so long ago. And when Eberechi Eze opened the scoring with a superb finish, against the run of play, the stars were beginning to align for the Eagles, who then had a huge slice of luck when their keeper Dean Henderson, who put in a spectacular performance, avoided what seemed to be a nailed on red card.
The FA Cup 2025 betting odds backed Pep Guardiola’s serial trophy winners from the off, but they met their match today and Glasner’s heroes have become history makers.
Highlights of the game
The Sky Blues went all out against Nottingham Forest in the semi-final and Guardiola put out an attacking starting eleven with two strikers, two wingers and Kevin de Bruyne. And the Belgian, soon to depart the Etihad, almost created a goal on six minutes. De Bruyne had enough space to curl over a superb cross which Haaland met and Henderson did well to keep out.
With 88 per cent possession in the first quarter of an hour the Sky Blues were totally dominant but when the Eagles had a chance they took it in brilliant style. They broke out for their first attack and when the excellent Daniel Munoz fired the ball into the penalty area Eze met it sweetly and the net bulged.
Take a look at the FA Cup 2025 highlights; this is a moment the Palace fans will watch again and again.
Henderson had a real let off on 24 minutes when he appeared to handle outside the area and it looked like he’d see red; but VAR gave him a reprieve and he took full advantage ten minutes later. Bernardo Silva was felled by Tyrick Mitchell and the referee pointed to the spot. Up stepped Omar Marmoush and Henderson made a great save. Then, minutes before the break, he made a spectacular save to deny Jeremy Doku and whether the Palace goalie should still have been on the pitch was highly debatable.
The second half began as the first had, City totally dominant and then we thought we’d seen Palace nick a goal again. A long throw came in and Munoz was first to react after Stefan Ortega had stopped his initial shot, but Ismaila Sarr was in an offside position and VAR gave the Sky Blues some good news.
Time ticked by… and into the final ten minutes the Eagles were still ahead; but we almost had a sensational story when 19 year old Claudio Echeverri almost levelled for City, but again Henderson was there to make a point blank save. The keeper was later booked for time wasting, seconds after the fourth official indicated TEN minutes of injury time; the longest ten minutes of Palace fans’ lives as they awaited a first major trophy in their club’s 119 year history.
De Bruyne shot wide…Henderson saved again from Echeverri and then the moment finally came. The referee blew his whistle, the stadium erupted and South London celebrated.
Key Statistics
Twice before the Eagles have been at Wembley in a FA Cup final and twice they have been within ten minutes of lifting the trophy, in 1990 and then 2016, but they have finally done it.
This was Manchester City’s 23rd visit to Wembley under Pep Guardiola and with 78 per cent possession, 23 shots to seven and six to two on target they did enough to win…apart from the most important part.
Haaland has never scored in six Wembley appearances and eight cup finals for Manchester City. Maybe he should have taken the penalty!
What’s Next?
The race for the Champions League spots continues apace, and second place in the Premier League is still up for grabs with Arsenal meeting Newcastle United on Sunday in our SBOTOP league match of the weekend.
After Friday night victories for Chelsea, over Manchester United, and Aston Villa, over Tottenham Hotspur, the Sky Blues slipped down to sixth place in the Premier League table, but with a game in hand on both the Blues and the Villans. City play that game at home to Bournemouth on Tuesday and they conclude their campaign with a trip to West London to face Fulham.
The Eagles round off their season with a home game against a resurgent Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday and then they will join in the celebrations at Anfield, where champions Liverpool will share a special day with their fans. And the Palace fans will be in great spirits too…they will be all summer!
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