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By OLIVER HOLT Published: 03: 32 AEST, 18 May 2025 | Updated: 04: 53 AEST, 18 May 2025 221 View comments Amid the plumes of smoke, and the grand and magnificent din, and the rush of hopes and dreams coursing through the Crystal Palace end, and the vivid splashes of blue and red, a banner was unfurled at the very front of the stand. ‘Wembley will shake and it will be beautiful, ’ it read. And Wembley did shake. And it was beautiful. Because when Crystal Palace, one of the great names of the English game, won the first major trophy of their 120-year history by beating Manchester City 1-0, the result meant more than just upholding one of the most beloved of English traditions, the FA Cup upset. At the close of a football season that has often felt like a sullen and soulless forced march, a season increasingly dominated by concerns over the exploitation of supporters, the feeling that Premier League clubs are drowning in their own greed, and the creeping sense that the boom years are over, Palace’s victory felt like an attempt to reclaim the game. There is a consensus that Palace have some of the best fans in the country and that Selhurst Park is among the best stadiums to watch football and if this was the club’s victory, it was also a victory for those who still cherish the FA Cup and for those who believe that the English game is about far more than the Bix Six. Perhaps that is unfair on City and their fans but for some, they have become a symbol of the way the game is being taken away from traditional supporters and turned over to tourists and casual fans who are prepared to pay more to watch matches at the Etihad. Loyal City fans have begun to protest at the way they are being exploited through ticket prices. Crystal Palace won their first ever major trophy as they beat Man City 1-0 in the FA Cup final Eberechi Eze's first half goal was the difference on a memorable day for Palace at Wembley The in-form Palace midfielder swept home Daniel Munoz's pinpoint cross from the right side It does not just apply to City. It applies to Manchester United, too, and to Chelsea and to so many of the other leading clubs. So Palace’s victory at Wembley felt like an wonderful antidote to all that. The regime that runs Palace is not perfect, either, but in the moments after their victory, as their fans held their arms aloft in unison and in disbelief to clap their players as they went up to lift the famous old trophy, it felt like a return to innocence. The FA Cup still has the power to produce games like this final that was a classic duel between giant and giant-killer, won by a goal from a wonderful player, Eberechi Eze, whose path to the top was not smooth, not charted through the luxury of an elite club academy. Released by Arsenal, released by Fulham and Reading and rejected by Bristol City, Sunderland and Millwall, he scored the goal that won the FA Cup 16 minutes in. Until this day, Palace’s main claim to an honour was beating Everton in the final of the Full Members Cup in 1991. It was known as the Zenith Data Systems Cup at the time and it was, let’s say, lightly regarded. This was entirely different. From the moment Eze scored and the prospect of victory suddenly started to seem very real, the game was gripped by tension. Dean Henderson, the Palace goalkeeper, should have been sent off for handling the ball outside the area and denying Erling Haaland the chance to score. But he survived and then, inevitably, he saved a penalty from Omar Marmoush and became the Palace hero. Jubilant scenes occurred on the pitch at full-time as Palace pulled off a major upset Palace had lost their previous two FA Cup finals in 1990 and 2016, both to Manchester United Quite why Erling Haaland did not take the penalty is anyone’s guess. For a striker of his ability and confidence, it is impossible to think that his nerve failed him but the facts do not make easy reading for him. He has now played six times at Wembley without scoring. He has played in eight finals for City without scoring. Today felt like a microcosm of City’s season, a huge disappointment. This is a team that won the Premier League four times in succession in the last four years but will end this season without a trophy. All that remains is for them to try to finish in the top five and qualify for next season’s Champions League, something that is by no means certain. This felt like the end of an era for City. There was a finality about it. A rebuild is coming and all the certainty they once possessed has gone. At the City end, they had unfurled a banner to their skipper, Kevin de Bruyne, who is preparing to say goodbye the club he has inspired to so many triumphs. ‘We won the lot with KDB, ’ the banner proclaimed. There is an argument he is the greatest player in the club’s history. Ever since it was announced that his contract was not being renewed at the end of the season, De Bruyne has played like a man on a mission to prove that age has not withered him and that his employers are wrong. Palace were brilliant, but Omar Marmoush also missed the chance to equalise from the spot Dean Henderson, who was in inspired form, made a stunning stop from Marmoush's penalty Erling Haaland had looked like he was going to take the penalty before giving the ball away The game was less than ten minutes old when he created City’s first chance, curling one of his beautiful trademark crosses to the back post for Haaland. Haaland stretched for it but his volley did not have the power to beat Henderson, who bundled it out for a corner. City kept Palace pinned in their own half for the first quarter of an hour. Maybe it was going to be a mismatch. Maybe Palace were going to freeze. Then, in the 16th minute, Palace scored with their first attack. It started with a long ball out of defence that was held up well by Jean-Philippe Mateta on the half-way line. Mateta laid the ball out wide into the path of Daniel Munoz and when Munoz crossed into the path of Eze, Eze got to the ball ahead of Manuel Akanji and steered it past Stefan Ortega with aplomb. The Palace end exploded in delirious happiness and uproarious celebration. Palace nearly scored again. Once more, the chance was created by a Munoz cross. Ismaila Sarr met it this time and prodded it towards goal but this time, it did not quite have the power or the pace to beat Ortega, who kept it out. It felt as if City had been ambushed, a sensation with which they have become all too familiar this season. Then it was Palace’s turn to flirt with disaster. Henderson came to the edge of his area to gather a long ball but misjudged the pace of the ball and swatted it away from Haaland from just outside the box. Henderson was lucky to stay on the pitch after he seemed to handle the ball outside the area Munoz thought he had made it 2-0 in the second half when he pounced on a loose ball But Palace's celebrations were cut short when VAR ruled that Ismaila Sarr was stood offside VAR checked the incident for the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity and the Palace supporters held their breath as they contemplated playing the rest of the match with ten men. They escaped. VAR judged that Haaland was moving away from goal and so the opportunity was not obvious. Most analysts disagreed. ‘It was 100% a red card, ’ Wayne Rooney said. Henderson was lucky to stay on. Then Palace escaped again. Bernardo Silva dribbled into the box and was brought down by Tyrick Mitchell. Haaland handed the ball to Marmoush to take the spot-kick but Henderson guessed correctly, dived to his right and pushed the penalty away to safety. In the crowd, some Palace supporters looked overcome. This was emotion overload. Henderson was the hero again before half-time. He threw himself to his left to push away a curling shot from Jeremy Doku that was destined for the top corner and then got a stroke of luck when De Bruyne hammered his shot high over the bar from eight yards out. City started the second half strongly. Palace defended for their lives again. Just before the hour, it seemed certain City would equalise when Doku threaded a pass through to Bernardo Silva six yards out. Silva had time to pick his spot but he took so much time, he allowed Daichi Kamada to get back to make a brilliant block. City weren't at their best and the defeat capped off what has been a disappointing season Pep Guardiola cut a frustrated figure on the touchline as his side struggled to create chances But this was Palace's day as Oliver Glasner led the club to a first major trophy in their history CRYSTAL PALACE (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi (Lerma 61); Munoz, Kamada, Wharton (Hughes 87), Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Mateta (Nketiah 78) Subs not used: Turner, Ward, Esse, Devenny, Clyne, Chilwell Scorer: Eze 16 Booked: Henderson Head coach: Oliver Glasner MAN CITY (4-2-3-1): Ortega; Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; De Bruyne, SIlva (Gundogan 88); Savinho (Foden 76), Marmoush (Echeverri 76), Doku; Haaland Subs not used: Ederson, Reis, Nunes, Khusanov, Grealish, Nico Booked: O'Reilly, Dias, Silva, De Bruyne, Echeverri Head coach: Pep Guardiola Referee: Stuart Attwell Palace thought they had scored a second, in front of their own fans, when Munoz squeezed in a shot by the base of the post after Ortega had parried a deflected shot, but replays showed Sarr had deflected the ball from an offside position. City searched, with increasing urgency, for the equaliser. Nico O’Reilly should have done better when De Bruyne found him in space in the box but he delayed his shot too long and Munoz made the goal-saving block. Claudio Echeverri, the 19-year-old Argentina striker, who had come on as a substitute and was making his debut, blew another opportunity when he shot too close to Henderson. Time was running out. Try as they might, City could not make any further impression on the Palace goal. A huge cheer rang out from the Palace end when one last shot from Doku rolled tamely wide. A few seconds later, it was over. Crystal Palace were winners at last.
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