Palace defeats Man City in the'special' FA Cup to win their first-ever trophy.

How Glasner guided Palace from gloom to FA Cup success

After overcoming a crisis that threatened to overtake manager Oliver Glasner, Crystal Palace experienced their greatest day and the triumph of their FA Cup final victory over Manchester City.

 In the Wembley sunshine, Palace's poorest start to a season since 1992–93—they didn't win in the Premier League until defeating Tottenham in their ninth game at Selhurst Park on October 27—was a distant memory as the Eagles celebrated their first significant victory ever.

As storm clouds gathered around the 50-year-old Austrian, Selhurst Park's hierarchy and chairman Steve Parish held their composure as Glasner and his victorious Palace team celebrated in front of their ecstatic supporters, their anthem "Glad All Over" reverberating throughout the stadium.

 It also validated Glasner's own strategy, after his statement during those turbulent October times: "It's time for hugging my players, not kicking them."

 There was a lot of embracing at Wembley as Palace paraded the FA Cup, the pinnacle of Glasner's revival, which his players executed wonderfully.

"That's what Oliver Glasner's done - he made us all believe," Parish said to BBC One just after their hard-fought 1-0 triumph.  "It was seen in the end.  I'm incredibly proud.

When history was made, Glasner's response mirrored his management style: he strode over to shake hands with his defeated City rival, Pep Guardiola, in a composed and collected manner.

 When he won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022, Glasner's passion and upbeat demeanour were compared to those of Jurgen Klopp.

 When Palace and Glasner stalled severely at the beginning of this season, it worked to their advantage.

 Even though Palace only managed three points from their first eight games this season, Glasner never gave up on himself.  More importantly, he never stopped believing in Palace's players.

 After Palace ended the previous season with 19 points out of a possible 21, he thought there were good reasons for the team's sluggish start.

This exacting and rigid individual, who arranges everything according to his perspective calendar, was in charge of a significant change after Palace lost Michael Olise, possibly their most talented forward, to Bayern Munich in a £50 million transaction.  Joachim Andersen, a key defender, also left to sign a £30 million contract with Fulham.

 While other key members of his team were undercooked, Eddie Nketiah, who cost £30 million to acquire from Arsenal, had not been training.

 While Jean-Philippe Mateta had played for France in the Olympic final, Eberechi Eze, Adam Wharton, Marc Guehi, and keeper Dean Henderson had represented England at Euro 2024.  Daniel Munoz and Jefferson Lerma represented Colombia in the Copa America.

Glasner had to integrate four deadline-day additions, including Nketiah, defender Maxence Lacroix from Wolfsburg, keeper Matt Turner from Nottingham Forest, and Chelsea's on-loan Trevoh Chalobah, but he was sure Palace would be a force once they were back up to speed.

 And so it has turned out.  Amazingly.

Parish maintains that after observing Glasner's diligence and positive demeanour on the training pitch, his status was never questioned.  The retribution for the act of trust was the writing of a new chapter in Palace's history on this day.

 With Mateta as the leader and focal point and the other two drifting behind with freedom and menace, Glasner has created the ideal system to fit the attacking trio of Eze, Ismaila Sarr, and Mateta.

 Palace's strengths lie elsewhere. Munoz has contributed directly to 13 goals across all competitions this season, including six goals and seven assists, making him the joint-leading defender for Premier League teams in 2024–25, along with Pedro Porro of Tottenham.

Despite Palace losing key captain Guehi after 61 minutes at Wembley due to a head injury, the Eagles' back three of Chris Richards, Lacroix, and Guehi have been fierce.

 Additionally, Palace has an X-factor, which is important on the big days when margins are acceptable.

 The key players Glasner believed would lift the team out of its early-season rut have performed admirably throughout the FA Cup campaign, and they were heroes once more against City.

 Eze's brilliant goal in the 16th minute, which swept past City custodian Stefan Ortega to complete a legendary Palace counterattack, ended this final.

The crucial moment arrived with such efficiency and brutality, even though it was Palace's first shot and first touch inside the penalty box.

 The talented forward led Palace to victory against Fulham in the quarterfinals and Aston Villa in the Wembley semifinals.

 Eze's name will always be associated with the stories of Palace's FA Cup victory, as they will always be.

Henderson, who was a Palace hero and City's villain, has also contributed to Palace's triumph, first against Villa and now here.

 The video assistant referee's decision that City's striker had been moving away from goal and was not denied a clean scoring opportunity was Henderson's sole mistake, as he stumbled in a race with Erling Haaland to reach Josko Gvardiol's long ball, handling outside his area.

 Henderson made flawless saves from Haaland, Gvardiol, and Jeremy Doku in the first half and City replacement Claudio Echeverri in the second half.

Henderson's admirer, England head coach Thomas Tuchel, was present. Although the keeper still has some work to do to defend the cries of "England's number one" from Palace supporters, there is no doubt that he has made his case stronger.

 He definitely irritated Guardiola, as the irate manager of City seemed to hurl insulting remarks at Henderson at the final whistle.

No such issues for Palace.  Everyone involved was ecstatic, but especially the Eagles' boisterous and fervent supporters, who were eager to put the pain of their FA Cup final losses to Manchester United in 1990 and 2016 behind them.

 Glasner had only visited Wembley three times before Palace's march to FA Cup victory, twice to see England and once to drop his daughter off at a Taylor Swift show.

 With a convincing 3-0 victory over Villa in the semi-final and the sound of Palace supporters singing along to their whole triumph playlist when referee Stuart Attwell indicated the end of ten agonising minutes of extra time, he has now created memories of Wembley of his own.

Before the FA Cup final, when history was discussed, Glasner cautioned, "You don't talk about an egg until the hen has laid it."

 When it was laid, the egg was golden.

 Glasner, Palace, and their thrilled supporters can now discuss this momentous day indefinitely.