🎥FA Cup shock: referee error 😱 Palace triumph, Pep ends trophyless
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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.
The unthinkable happens in the FA Cup final! With a goal in the first half and a highly dubious incident involving Dean Henderson, Crystal Palace wins 1-0 against Manchester City and celebrates the first trophy in its history.
A dramatic season for Pep Guardiola's team, ending in a crisis that seems endless and sees the last possible trophy fade away in a grotesque and surreal way.
The goal that unlocks the game is that at the 16' by Eberechi Eze. The twenty-six-year-old attacking midfielder is lethal in exploiting the low cross from the right by Munoz, unlocking the game. For the English player, this is his fifth consecutive game scoring.
CRYSTAL PALACE STRIKE FIRST IN THE FINAL 😲
Who else but @EbereEze10!? 🤩#EmiratesFACuppic.twitter.com/CQGR9cUFPl— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) May 17, 2025
From the moment of the lead onwards, for better or worse, the absolute protagonist is goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
The goalkeeper intervenes with a punch outside the area, removing the ball from Erling Haaland's availability. The VAR checks the incident, but does not indicate to the referee to pull out the red card.
From that moment on, Henderson will be the MVP.
DEAN HENDERSON.
The @CPFC shot-stopper with an incredible save to deny Omar Marmoush from the spot 🤯#EmiratesFACuppic.twitter.com/Mxf5URv9K6— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) May 17, 2025
First, the penalty saved from Marmoush at the 36', with a feline dive to his right. This is the first penalty intercepted in an FA Cup final since Cech's in 2010.
Another massive chance for Manchester City, but Dean Henderson denies them again! 😯#EmiratesFACuppic.twitter.com/IaKFrvCnNA— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) May 17, 2025
A few minutes later another miracle, a "Sommer-style" dive to remove Doku's curling shot from the mirror and send the teams to the interval at 0-0.
In the second half, very little happens, with only one serious chance for Echeverri who is stopped by the usual Henderson. Crystal Palace celebrates, but Pep Guardiola is furious.
Pep Guardiola exchanged words with Dean Henderson after Crystal Palace's FA Cup victory 👀 pic.twitter.com/zZhXg9BLhl— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 17, 2025
The coach went head-to-head with Henderson, blaming him for the missing red card that would certainly have changed the momentum of the game.
Manchester City will end the season without lifting a major trophy for the first time since 2016/17, Pep Guardiola’s first campaign at the club.
It becomes only the second season in his managerial career in which he has failed to win any major silverware. 😔 pic.twitter.com/RuE1wNQ0Hf— WhoScored (@WhoScored) May 17, 2025
Tensions are high, as is inevitable after the worst season of his career.
📸 Shaun Botterill - 2025 Getty Images
