Crystal Palace ended their 119-year wait for a major honour with 1-0 win over Manchester City to secure the FA Cup on Saturday evening.
Cityzens recalled Stefan Ortega, Nico O’Reilly, Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Omar Marmoush from the frustrating goalless draw against Southampton, while Palace manager Oliver Glasner welcomed back Adam Wharton and Daichi Kamada from the win over Tottenham Hotspur.
The Cityzens were stunned in the 16th minute when Daniel Munoz moved right of the area and played in a smart cross for Eberechi Eze to volley in the bottom-corner.
City could’ve levelled ten minutes later after Erling Haaland beat goalkeeper Dean Henderson to a ball in-behind and picked out Marmoush, but the Egyptian fluffed his lines.
The seven-time champions got a clearer chance minutes to halftime when Bernardo Silva won a penalty from a foul by Tyrick Mitchell, but Marmoush stepped up and missed.
Henderson made himself big again three minutes ahead of the break and produced a flying save to repel Doku’s curler nestling the top-corner.
Glasner’s men were called to last-ditch goal-line clearances a minute in the second half following successive close-range efforts by Haaland and Doku.
Palace inspired approach continued and had the ball in the net once again when Ismaila Sarr latched onto a rebound from Ortega to tap in easily, but he was flagged for offside.
The Cityzens weren’t rattled but quietly searched a way back as manager Pep Guardiola introduced Phil Foden and debuted Claudio Echeverri.
Departing Kevin De Bruyne could’ve drawn level three minutes into added time with a first-time shot outside the area, but he dragged well wide.
Echeverri looked to go one better and capped a fine debut through a half-volley following a loose ball, but Henderson parried and steered Palace to a famous cup victory.
