Crystal Palace came into the final as big underdogs and started the game cautiously, letting Manchester City control the ball early on. But they had a plan, and it worked perfectly.
Just 16 minutes in, Eberechi Eze scored the only goal with a superb volley in the 16th minute from a brilliant delivery from Daniel Muñoz at Wembley, to give his side the lead.
Things quickly got dramatic. Less than 10 minutes later, City were shouting for a red card after Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson handled the ball outside the box while trying to stop Erling Haaland.
VAR looked at it but decided that it wasn’t an obvious goal-scoring chance because of the angle of Haaland’s run. Henderson wasn’t punished, which caused even more outrage when he later saved a penalty from Omar Marmoush at the 36th minute.
The Palace keeper dived low to his right to stop the shot, and City fans were fuming that he was still on the pitch.
Oliver Glasner’s side had some close calls, too. They thought they had scored a second early in the second half when Muñoz tapped in from close range, but the goal was ruled out because the ball had deflected off an offside Ismaïla Sarr.
City started getting frustrated, and tempers erupted on the sidelines as Argentinian youngster Claudio Echeverri made his debut from River Plate, missing a good chance to equalise, while Chris Richards stood strong in defence, blocking everything that came his way.
In the 10 minutes of added time, Palace were under heavy pressure, defending deep. Kevin De Bruyne’s volley went wide, and they also survived a late handball scare, but they held on for what might be the biggest win in the club’s history.
It’s a historic moment for the Eagles and Oliver Glasner, winning their first major trophy. This triumph earns them a ticket to Europe to compete in the Europa League next season, and as for City, this loss marks their first season without a trophy since Guardiola’s debut campaign in 2016–17.
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