00:00Well, Crystal Palace FA Cup winners for 2025, a sentence not many supporters of the Eagles
00:10probably would have ever imagined at the start of the campaign, especially when they made
00:14a very poor start to their Premier League season. And yet, under Oliver Glasner, this
00:19season they've rebuilt and they've got themselves into the FA Cup final and defeated Manchester
00:25City at Wembley by one goal to nil Eberiche as they're scoring the winning goal in the first
00:30half. And to be fair to Palace, most people will probably agree that they deserved to win
00:35that game. Yes, they didn't have a lot of the ball during the encounter at Wembley, but
00:40when they did have it, they were certainly the more threatening side. Manchester City not
00:44doing enough on the day to get themselves back into the game or even take the lead. Of course,
00:49they missed the penalty as well through Omar Mouche. So for Crystal Palace, scenes of utter
00:55jubilation, ecstasy, pandemonium. It was, of course, the first major trophy in their history
01:02and it means so much to all of their supporters, all of those who fill out Silhurst Park week
01:07in, week out. They now have a major trophy to put in the cabinet at the stadium. That
01:12is the FA Cup for the first time in their history. What a season it's been for Crystal Palace
01:17and, of course, that victory secures their first ever European competition spot as well
01:23as they qualify for the Europa League for next season as well. So history made by Crystal
01:28Palace at Wembley. Charles Higg-Jones, one of our London reporters, what do you make of
01:33it and just what seems for Palace and what can this inspire going into next season?
01:38Yeah, Crystal Palace's FA Cup journey was historic and emotionally charged with, you know, culminating
01:48in the club's first major trophy. It was obviously in its 164-year history. An amazing achievement
01:55for the Eagles. If we look back, you know, third round, narrow 1-0 victory over Stockport,
02:00Ebrecht Chiese scoring the decisive goal and into the fourth round and a 2-0 win against
02:06Doncaster Rovers, Daniel Munoz and Justin Deveni scoring those. Fifth round, Millwall, local
02:14derby sort of, you know, London-based, of course, 3-1 win, but that terrible injury to Jean-Philippe Mateta,
02:22obviously, which he still wears his ear band on. Munoz scoring again. He's been unbelievable for
02:30Crystal Palace this season. Eddie Nketiah and an own goal from Chaffet Tanganga as well. Then into the
02:36quarter-finals, 3-0 win away at Fulham. It was an amazing performance against their, again, another
02:43London rival, Eze, Ismail Asar and Nketiah scoring those goals. And then that semi-final against Aston Villa.
02:52Let's look at Villa going into it. They were one of the most informed sides in Europe. Oliver Glasner took
02:57them to the sword and it was unbelievable. I mean, a brace from Saar, Eze as well. I mean, you have to look
03:04at Ebrecht Chiese. He's been one of the standout players across the entire Premier League this season, in my eyes,
03:09especially across London. And, you know, Crystal Palace have an absolute gem on their hands. They obviously lost
03:15Michael Alise. They lost Wilfred Zaha before that as well. How important Ebrecht Chiese is to
03:22this Palace side is, you know, can't be overstated at all. And then you have the likes of Ismail Asar
03:28coming into his own as well and really reaching his full potential. Then you have to look at the
03:32final. I mean, going into it, Oliver Glasner warned Pep Guardiola, which is quite an amazing
03:37story, really, that if he did play that same system when Man City beat them just a few weeks
03:44back, they'd discover it. They wouldn't be able to handle Crystal Palace. And that's exactly how it
03:50panned out. City were dominant. City were dominant in possession. And in chances going
03:55forward, Dean Henderson, you know, played a massive role. Obviously, there was controversy
04:02about the possible handball issue. But to save a penalty from Omar Marmush, I mean, it just
04:09shows Manchester City's penalty issues that they have. They haven't had a firm penalty taker
04:14since Sergio Aguero, really. And they just can't continually score penalties. And it's
04:20just so devastating for them. Europa League, they are in it now. They are playing European
04:25football, a competition that Glasner has won with Frankfurt before. So that makes it even
04:30more interesting. I mean, an amazing time to be a Palace fan. And yeah, it's so positive at
04:36the moment. And all credit goes to Oliver Glasner and Crystal Palace. They've been absolutely
04:41fantastic throughout the entire campaign.
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