CNN
–
Crystal Palace won their first major trophy after beating Manchester City 1-0 in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
In the case of Manchester City and Pep Guardiola, the final loss represents the first trophyless season since the 2016-17 campaign.
Oliver Glasner’s team took the lead in the first half at Wembley Stadium in London when Ebeki Eze finished the customary Crystal Palace counterattack.
Manchester City is under pressure for the rest of the game and will regret passing the missed opportunity overall, including missing a penalty from Omar Marmash.
Smash and Grab
Crystal Palace took the lead in the 16th minute with a free-flowing goal that fans became accustomed to seeing during Glasner’s time for clubs.
The South London team went back and forth from their backs at lightning speed in a trademark counterattack.
Jean-Philippe Mateta held the ball at the half line before finding fullback Daniel Muñoz running down the right side of the palace in one of his conventional bursts.
Munoz looked up and then delivered a low cross into the Manchester City box, discovering it stands out perfectly. The 26-year-old then pushed the ball into the far corner of the net and sent Crystal Palace fans to delirium.
Manchester City dominated before the goal and continued to put pressure on 1-0. Guardiola’s team was quickly rewarded for its constant pressure when Bernardo Silva was defeated by Tiric Mitchell in the Crystal Palace Penalty Area.
Malmuch stepped up to take the Manchester City spot kick, but saw his penalty being stunned by Dean Henderson in the palace goal.
Crystal Palace entered the halftime break with a 1-0 lead, knowing it was 45 minutes after making history.
The second half saw the same thing Crystal Palace stubbornly defended to prevent the equalizer in Manchester City.
Henderson continued to prove his worth on the palace net, thwarting countless Manchester City efforts.
With time running out, Manchester City ran out of ideas and Crystal Palace continued to hold onto the club’s historic victory.
“It’s special,” Match Winner Eze told BBC Sports after the match. “I don’t even know what to say.”
Crystal Palace took part in the game as a heavy loser.
The club has never won a major trophy in its long history and has faced the side of British football in recent years.
Manchester City, along with many other major honors, has won the Premier League six times since the 2017-18 season.
However, this Crystal Palace team did not allow history books to deflect them from the task at hand.
“I think that’s amazing. You can do things that no one can in Crystal Palace’s history,” Crystal Palace defender Christa Richards told CNN Sports’ Darren Lewis before the final.
And Crystal Palace did exactly that, and made history thanks to Eze’s goal. The American defender also spoke to Lewis about the importance of Eze to his team.
“He’s doing things no one expects here. I don’t even have the creativity to think about some of the things he’s doing in his brain,” Richards said of his talisman teammate.
“He’s one of those people who lead by example. He doesn’t have much to say, but when he says, you realize that it’s probably coming from a good place.”
Not only is the first major honor for Crystal Palace, but the club will also play in Europe for the first time in history next season.
The celebration of Crystal Palace fans continues deeper into the evening after breaking its long drought, and next season will certainly continue around the continent.