Crystal Palace’s FA Cup final win over Manchester City was one-in-10 shot, says manager Oliver Glasner

LONDON – Crystal Palace’s momentous FA Cup victory over Manchester City at Wembley on May 17 was a one-in-10 shot, according to Oliver Glasner, who became the first manager in the London club’s history to deliver major silverware.

Eberechi Eze’s 16th-minute winner proved decisive as Palace, roared on by their success-starved fans, made up for two previous FA Cup final heartbreaks in 1990 and 2016.

Unlike their dominant display against Champions League quarter-finalists Aston Villa in the semi-finals, Palace had only 21 per cent possession against Pep Guardiola’s City but defended incredibly to preserve the lead given to them by Eze’s sweetly struck effort from a Daniel Munoz cross.

“This is what dreams are made of, for me and this club. Who thought we could do it? We’ve made history,” said 26-year-old Eze, who was rejected by Arsenal and other clubs as a youth.

“I can’t really believe it. If you play this game 10 times, we win it once and that happened today,” added Glasner, who replaced Roy Hodgson 15 months ago and is the now the first Austrian coach to win the FA Cup.

“We scored the first time we were in their half and then we defended with every single part of the body and a great goalkeeper, a great mentality and togetherness.”

Glasner, whose playing career with Austrian club SV Ried was curtailed after he suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2011, took Eintracht Frankfurt to the Europa League title in 2022.

He will now lead Palace in the same competition next season, their first venture into a major European competition.

“I got this feeling during the season that you can achieve incredible things with this group of players,” the 50-year-old said. “We wanted to write history. I think now we wrote really a big chapter in history. Next year, we start a new chapter.”

Glasner’s name was sung by the Palace fans after the final whistle and he paid tribute to the patience they showed when Palace struggled at the start of the season.

After eight Premier League games, they had no wins and three points but have not looked back since and their run to FA Cup glory, in which they conceded only one goal in six rounds, has fully vindicated the faith shown in Glasner by Palace’s chairman Steve Parish. Palace have also matched their record Premier League points tally of 49 with two games left.

“We have talented players, and especially with great characters and with such a togetherness, such a great work ethic, such a great environment and atmosphere – this I think is fundamental for achieving maybe impossible things,” he said.

“The players, they’ve never lost belief in me and the coaching staff.”

Speaking of Palace’s fans, who celebrated long and loud inside the stadium and were no doubt off to paint south London blue and red, Glasner added: “Today it was Crystal Palace’s day. It was the day for our fans. Maybe there will be a few headaches tomorrow! This is what they deserve because they always stick with us.

“The biggest success we can have is not winning the trophy, it’s that we could give thousands of our fans a moment for their lives.”

An emotional Parish said Palace’s victory was great for the Cup. “I am so proud. The team, the fans, I honestly believed that we would win. That’s what Oliver’s done. He made us all believe and you could see it at the end.”

Meanwhile, Guardiola admitted his post-match clash with Dean Henderson was fuelled by frustration at the Palace goalkeeper’s time-wasting antics.

He appeared to exchange angry words with the Englishman on the pitch after the final whistle and was still frustrated in his post-match press conference.

“I understand in the last minutes, but since the first or second minutes?” the Spaniard said.

“We didn’t lose because Henderson was time-wasting. But it’s a question of rhythm for the players.”

Meanwhile, Henderson said: “I just went to shake his hand but obviously I think he was disappointed with the time-wasting. I said, ‘You got your 10 minutes you were wanting’. No hard feelings.” REUTERS, AFP