‘This is a big chapter in our club’s history’

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner believes his players have given the club’s fans a ‘moment for their life’ by beating Manchester City 1-0 to win their first ever FA Cup title on Saturday night.

Eberechi Eze scored in the first half at Wembley on Saturday before goalkeeper Dean Henderson denied Omar Marmoush from the spot as Palace dug deep against Pep Guardiola’s men to get over the line.  The win also secured a Europa League spot for Palace next season.

“We wrote a really big chapter in our history,” said Glasner after ending a 31 year trophy-drought at the club.

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Crystal Palace players celebrate with the FA Cup winner’s trophy after beating Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. Pic/AP; PTI 

The Austrian, who also coached Eintracht Frankfurt to the Europa League title in 2022, believes the major takeaway from Saturday’s triumph is the fact that the club gave the fans a moment of happiness amidst the rigours of everyday life. “We gave them [fans] a moment for their life. We gave them hours and days where they forget all their problems and are just happy and celebrating. This is the biggest achievement that sportsmen can do,” Glasner adding that his players did well to stick together after a terrible start to the season when they won just one of their first 13 league games. “You can see now what you can get when you are patient as a club. Even three or four weeks ago, we conceded 10 goals within four days… at City five, at Newcastle five, but our fans kept supporting the team. It’s a special connection,” said Glasner.

Meanwhile, for Man City boss Pep Guardiola, the result capped a forgettable season. The Sky Blues relinquished the league title to Liverpool, lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League knockouts and were ousted from the League Cup by Tottenham Hotspur.

Despite a late-season resurgence, City are still squabbling for a top-five spot in the English Premier League to get into Europe’s elite competition next season.  Guardiola wants his team to channel the pain of this defeat towards achieving that objective.
 
“We must continue and recover quick for the last two finals [league games] we have to play to qualify for the Champions League,” said Guardiola.

31
No. of years since Crystal Palace’s last title

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