The Belgian was blunted in a deep role but the Egyptian shoulders greater blame for squandering the spot-kick on a disastrous day for the Cityzens
Pep Guardiola made a huge tactical blunder as Manchester City fell to a shock defeat in the FA Cup final by a resilient Crystal Palace. The Catalan over-thought it to an absurd agree and fielded no natural holding midfielders in a move reminiscent of the 2021 Champions League final defeat by Chelsea.
Eberechi Eze, a transfer target for City in the last two years, struck the only goal of the game but the final will be overshadowed for the decision not to send Dean Henderson off for handling outside his area. But City only have themselves to blame for losing a second cup final in a row, as Omar Marmoush saw his penalty saved by Henderson and Guardiola made yet more bizarre moves from the sidelines.
Before kick-off City's fans paid homage to Kevin De Bruyne in his last final for the club in an impressive tifo funded by fans with the help of Erling Haaland. But De Bruyne was the victim of Guardiola's outlandishly attacking formation, which meant he and Bernardo Silva had to act as holding midfielders to accomodate Marmoush, Savinho, Haaland and Jeremy Doku.
The tactics led to City dominating the early stages of the game and hemming Palace into their own area, only for the Eagles to swoop and score with their first attack. Munoz came down the right in a sweeping move and curled a low cross into Eze, who met it first time to beat Ortega.
Palace could and perhaps should have been reduced to 10 men when Henderson used his hand outside of the area to beat the ball away from Haaland's grasp. City did get a decision in their favour when Silva was fouled by Tyrick Mitchell but Marmoush took the kick ahead of Haaland and his low shot was pushed away by Henderson.
The goalkeeper repelled a dangerous effort from Doku and De Bruyne should have done much better on the rebound. The second half followed a similar pattern as City did most of the talking but Palace held firm. The Eagles thought they had doubled their lead when Daniel Munoz struck at the near post but the goal was ruled out for offside against Ismaila Sarr in the build-up.
Haaland skied an effort down the other end and then headed over the bar. The ball then fell to De Bruyne on the edge of the box but he shot wide. Moments later the final whistle went, rounding off an infuriating day for Guardiola and his side.
GOAL rates Man City's players from Wembley Stadium…
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Stefan Ortega (5/10):
Nothing he could do for the goal, which was one of just two shots he had to face, discounting Palace's disallowed effort. He denied Mateta with the other. It was a better display than last year's final but he has now lost two in a row.
Manuel Akanji (4/10):
Lost track of Eze for the goal and had a near miss when he didn't communicate properly with Dias. Had come close to scoring moments before the goal with a header that landed the wrong side of the bar. Despite that he did not get forward enough down his flank. That shouldn't be surprising given he is a centre-back by trade.
Ruben Dias (6/10):
Didn't do much wrong aside from one mix-up with Akanji which City got away with. Dealt well with Mateta on the whole.
Josko Gvardiol (6/10):
Made a good defensive action to stop Munoz breaking free again. Also a handful going forward, testing Henderson as City dominated the first spell.
Nico O'Reilly (5/10):
Played high up the pitch which meant he could not get back when Palace poured forward to score. Had a good chance in the second half but was too ponderous on the ball and his shot was blocked.
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Bernardo Silva (6/10):
Was one of City's better players, having an active role in their dominant spell and earning the penalty.
Kevin De Bruyne (5/10):
Not the farewell he wanted in his last final. Sat far too deep due to Guardiola's formation and couldn't get in the positions where he is most dangerous. Shanked a loose ball over the bar. Made two promising passes in the second half but ultimately failed to produce the magic of old, sending a shot wide in added time.
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Jeremy Doku (7/10):
Offered lots of exciting play down the left flank and had one of City's best efforts when he forced Henderson to tip his effort away from the top corner.
Savinho (6/10):
Lively in the early stages but faded and eventually made way for Foden.
Omar Marmoush (4/10):
Took a big call by stepping up to take the penalty instead of Haaland and couldn't back it up, even if Henderson made a great save. After that he couldn't get in any other promising positions and came off for the teenage debutant Echeverri.
Erling Haaland (5/10):
His Wembley curse continues. Had a decent early effort saved by Henderson but didn't hit the target again, heading over the bar twice in the second half. And why didn't he back himself to take the penalty?!
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Phil Foden (5/10):
Sent a corner to Haaland which was headed over the bar. Got into the final third a lot but couldn't do much in it.
Claudio Echeverri (6/10):
Had one chance on his debut, forcing a good save from Henderson.
Ilkay Gundogan (N/A):
An 88th-minute substitution for Bernardo and couldn't repeat his Wembley heroics from 2023.
Pep Guardiola (3/10):
His formation was a mess and he took far too long to introduce any changes. And of all the substitutions to make, throwing on teenage debutant Echeverri made very little sense.
