A diving Dean Henderson stood like a wall against Omar Marmoush, leading Crystal Palace to a dream FA Cup title by beating Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the final at Wembley on Saturday. With this, Man City’s last bid for silverware this season also ended.
Erling Haaland, City’s usual penalty taker, decided to let Marmoush take the crucial penalty kick with 10 minutes left in the first half and Palace 1-0 up after Eberechi Eze’s early goal, but Henderson guessed correctly to deny him. This also sums up a harrowing campaign in which they have been dethroned as the powerhouse of English football and will go without a domestic trophy for the first time since 2016-17.
City manager Pep Guardiola had expected Haaland to take the penalty and said the decision for Marmoush to take the penalty was made by the players on the pitch. “They decided on the pitch. I thought he (would) want to take it,” Guardiola said of Haaland after the game. “We didn’t speak. There are questions in the meetings, and there are things that are ready for them,” he said to BBC.
“That moment for the free-kicks, the penalty, is especially about how you feel. They saw that Omar was ready to take it.”
Despite spending nearly 200 million Euros in the January transfer window to rescue their season, City have fallen short in the Premier League, Champions League and now the FA Cup.
Henderson, a standout performer for Palace, made several saves, helping Palace to a famous win while keeping their early lead. However, Guardiola dismissed any suggestions of time-wasting from the goalkeeper, instead pointing to his team’s shortcomings in front of goal.
“He defends his position, and we defend our position. In the last few minutes, everyone can do whatever they want, but we must score goals,” said Guardiola. “We didn’t lose because Henderson was time-wasting. In the last minute, I understand that. But after it’s true, they give them nine or ten minutes extra time, so it’s that. But it’s a question of rhythm, you know, it’s not fair to let 22 players play, play, play.”
