FA Cup final: Eberechi Eze the hero as Crystal Palace beat Man City to win first major trophy

Midfielder's first-half strike and a string of fine saves by Dean Henderson secures victory at Wembley

Crystal Palace chairman Joel Ward lifts the FA Cup following a 1-0 victory over Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on May 17, 2025 in London, England. Getty Images

Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze with teammates celebrate after winning the FA Cup. Reuters

Crystal Palace players celebrate winning the FA Cup final. EPA

Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace celebrates. Getty Images

Manchester City's Erling Haaland, left, and Claudio Echeverri look dejected at the final whistle. EPA

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola gestures on the touchline. AFP

Manchester City's Jeremy Doku vies with Crystal Palace's Daniel Munoz. AFP

Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace scores his team's first goal. Getty Images

Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace shoots during the FA Cup final. Getty Images

Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson saves Omar Marmoush's penalty in the FA Cup final. EPA

Omar Marmoush of Manchester City is consoled by Erling Haaland after missing his side's penalty. Getty Images

Manchester City's Jeremy Doku watches as Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson saves his shot. AFP

Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson celebrates after the final whistle. PA

Crystal Palace's Dean Henderson and manager Oliver Glasner celebrate winning the FA Cup. Reuters

Crystal Palace's FA Cup final hero Eberechi Eze was lost for words after scoring the winning goal as the Eagles beat Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley.

The England international's strike on 16 minutes helped Palace to their first major trophy in the club's 119-year history.

"It's special. I don't know what to say," said Eze.

"We've faced a team that's been the best team in the world for so long. To show that type of spirit, that type of energy ... only God," the 26-year-old added.

Palace had to ride their luck as goalkeeper Dean Henderson was fortunate to escape an early red card for handling outside his box.

Henderson also saved a first-half penalty from Omar Marmoush but City failed to make their dominance of possession count.

Daniel Munoz’s strike after the interval was chalked off by VAR with Oliver Glasner’s side thwarting wave after wave of City possession to see out the victory.

"I just couldn't breathe. They keep the ball so well," Eze said of City's fast start.

"We also know when we get up to their box we've got to make it count and just thankful we made it count today because it's not easy."

Victory means Palace will also play in European competition for the first time next season as they qualify for the Europa League.

City dominated possession but were made to pay for a host of wasted chances and the excellence of Henderson in the Palace goal.

For City, manager Pep Guardiola will have to wait for the 19th trophy of his tenure as his side’s defeat here caps a bitterly-disappointing campaign which could yet see them miss out on the Uefa Champions League next season.

It had started encouragingly for Guardiola’s players, who had Palace camped inside their own half for the opening quarter-of-an-hour with Haaland meeting Kevin de Bruyne’s cross after six minutes to force a decent save from Henderson.

The Palace stopper was called into action five minutes later when he stopped Josko Gvardiol’s header from Savinho’s corner. Manuel Akanji then headed over Savinho’s next set-piece inswinger and it seemed a matter of when, not if, a totally dominant City would open the scoring.

But suddenly, Palace were ahead. Jean-Philippe Mateta held up a long punt forward before he turned the ball round the corner to Munoz. The Colombia international’s pinpoint pass was met by Eze, who steered the ball past Stefan Ortega.

It marked only the second time Palace had crossed the halfway line and they might have doubled their advantage moments later, only for Ortega to save well from Ismaila Sarr.

The game was alive and following his early saves, Henderson was back in the spotlight, but this time for the wrong reasons when he handled the ball outside of the area to prevent Haaland from meeting Gvardiol’s long ball forward.

With only Henderson to beat, was Haaland denied a clear scoring opportunity? Controversially, VAR did not think so – claiming the ball was going away from the goal – and Henderson was in the clear.

City had every right to feel aggrieved, but they were then awarded a chance to wipe out Palace’s lead when Tyrick Mitchell’s sliding tackle missed the ball and took out Bernado Silva instead.

Referee Stuart Attwell hesitated momentarily before pointing to the spot. This time, VAR would not come to Palace’s rescue, but Henderson did, when he pulled off a strong one-handed save to deny Marmoush – and not Haaland who had kissed the ball before passing it to his team-mate – from 12 yards.

Haaland has now failed to score in six appearances at Wembley and in eight City finals.

With half-time approaching, man-of-the-hour Henderson was back in action when he produced a flying save to stop Jeremy Doku’s curling effort.

Palace started the second half just as they did the first – penned inside their own half. But, just as in the opening period, the south London club had the ball in the back of the net with their first attack on City’s goal.

Munoz’s thrash at goal deflected off Maxence Lacroix – and then Sarr – with a wrong-footed Ortega making the save before Munoz poked the rebound home.

However, wild scenes in the Palace end were curtailed when VAR intervened with Sarr in an offside position. Amid the frantic action on the pitch, there was chaos off it, too, as backroom staff from both teams had to be separated.

City were enjoying plenty of possession and De Bruyne presented Nico O’Reilly with a fine chance but he delayed his shot and Palace cleared their lines.

Front and centre in the first half, Henderson was not called into action until the 82nd minute.

But when he was, he was equal to the task as he denied 19-year-old substitute Claudio Echeverri from scoring on his debut, in normal time and then again in the sixth of 10 added on minutes on an afternoon, Henderson, nor anyone connected with Palace, will ever forget.