Eze's crowning FA Cup moment turns Glasner's Eagles into history boys

Cup final scene before kick-off : Picture by @YTJourno

FA Cup Final

Crystal Palace (1) 1 Eze 16

Manchester City (0) 0

Was it ever really in doubt?

The omens kept piling up to tell us the stars were finally aligned for the Eagles.

The red half of Manchester may have flattened ambitions of silverware twice before in this famous old competition but the blue half was unable to deny third-time lucky Palace as they secured a first ever trophy.

All the ingredients were there for that victory to happen. A missed penalty for the opponents. A blinding performance from the keeper. A ruthless piece of finishing when the chance arose. A piece of good fortune with a VAR call over a goalkeeping handling offence just outside the area.

Pep Guardiola's City had so much of the ball but really struggled to break down the Eagles after conceding ealy on. It felt like they could have played until midnight without upsetting Oliver Glasner's magnificently executed gameplan.

Palace absorbed and hit on the break - and defended expertly throughout, with Maxence Lacroix protected by Daichi Kamada and Adam Wharton. They did not need many chances of their own to win the day.

The reward felt on the way, even if Palace fans had to endure the agony of 10 minutes of injury time before they could celebrate.

A major trophy. Finally. And European football to come next season at Selhurst Park. Eagles fans will be floating on air for the rest of the summer.

There were a couple of early moments to keep Palace on their toes, though nothing too scary. Kevin de Bruyne's angled cross from the right was met by a lunging Erling Haaland volley at the far post that Dean Henderson had top scramble behind. A Manuel Akanji header at a corner brushed the roof of the net.

But there was no harm done. The harm was soon coming at the other end in the shape of typically lightning break. Jean-Philippe Mateta initiated it by securing possession and then laying off for Daniel Munoz's first run deep into enemy territory. His low cross was perfect for Eberechi Eze and the midfielder clipped it home.

Soon after, Eze and Munoz combined to give Ismaila Sarr his first sighter and although his scuffed shot was easily blocked by Stefan Ortega, it raised the levels of belief still further.

There was an anxious moment for Palace fans when VAR re-ran an incident where Henderson rushed to the edge of the area to claw the ball away from a rampaging Haaland, but the touch was not deemed to be outside the area and the denial of a goalscoring opportunity. In theory it could have resulted in a red for the Eagles stopper.

City had all of the ball but none of the opportunities. That was until the 36th minute when Tyrick Mitchell felled Bernardo Silva as the pair raced towards the byline. Need we have worried? After a lengthy delay, Omar Marmoush stepped forward to send a shot to Henderson's right that the keeper kept out.

And where was Haaland in all this? Having missed three of his previous seven, he didn't fancy it. It spoke volumes of his lack of confidence and City's almost passive approach to their fate.

Were more omens' needed? We got another when Henderson saved superbly from Jeremy Doku and from the follow up, Kevin de Bruyne skied it horribly. Name on the cup.

Just before the hour mark, the Eagles suffered their first real blows of the afternoon when Marc Guehi had to depart after taking a blow in the face from an Wharton shot and Munoz had a goal chalked off for offside against Sarr - whose deflection had opened up the chance for the Colombian to tap in from close range.

But it did not throw them off course in any way and the fans - magnificently raucous in the west end of the stadium - never stopped believing.

One more important save was needed from Henderson as sub Claudio Echeverri - preferred to £100m man Jack Grealish off the bench - was played into space for a direct strike on goal that was comfortably dealt with. City were reduced to attempting the increasingly desperate and started to look less and less likely to prevail.

What a day for the Eagles. What a day for chairman Steve Parish and those amazing fans. One they will never forget.

Prominent in the trophy lift was the soon to depart Joel Ward. The long-serving man who has spent years at the coal face in the Palace cause did not get off the bench but made sure he soaked up the glory along with his delirious team-mates.

Eagles: (3-4-2-1) Henderson - Richards, Lacroix, Guehi (Lerma 60)- Munoz, Wharton (Hughes 87), Kamada, Mitchell - Sarr, Eze - Mateta (Nketiah 78)

City: (4-2-3-1) Ortega - Akanji, Ruben Dias, Gvardoil, O'Reilly - Bernardo Silva (Gundogan 88), De Bruyne - Savinho (Foden 76), Mamoush (Echeverri 76), Doku - Haaland

Attendance: 84,163