A first-half goal and much time of withstanding the Manchester City attack was enough for Chris Richards and Crystal Palace to claim their first major trophy in their shock win of the FA Cup on Saturday at Wembley Stadium.
Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester City
A goal from Eberechi Eze and a save from a spot kick by Dean Henderson did the job for Crystal Palace as they stunned Manchester City to be crowned FA Cup champions for the first time in the south London team’s 119-year history.
Chris Richards started in the three-man backline for the Eagles, completing 83 percent of his passes, winning five duels, and making one tackle. Matt Turner was on the bench.
City started the game with the clear advantage as they had 84 percent possession of the ball in more than 10 minutes of action.
That would prove futile as Palace scored the only goal of the game in the 16th minute when Daniel Munoz crossed the ball to the center from the right, allowing Eze to volley it past City’s goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
The Eagles may have had the lead, but the pressure continued as their opponents tried to level the score. An opportunity came in the 33rd minute when the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty. Tyrick Mitchell was the guilty party as he brought down Bernardo Silva.
Omar Marmoush stepped up for the shot, but Henderson guessed right to deny the goal for the Blues as both teams headed inside for halftime.
Despite the dominance in possession, Manchester City could not find the goals to turn the game around in the second half. Palace, on the other hand, appeared to have doubled their lead in the 58th minute when Munoz struck from close range. However, the video assistant referee noticed Ismaila Sarr to be offside, leaving the referee to disallow the goal.
With the final whistle after 10 minutes of stoppage time, the Crystal Palace players were finally able to breathe as they overcame a humongous challenge to lift the FA Cup.
The win now puts Richards and Turner in exclusive company as they join Tim Howard, who won a winners’ medal with Manchester United in their FA Cup win in 2004.
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