Crystal Palace wins FA Cup, its first major trophy

LONDON (AP) — Crystal Palace pulled off one of the biggest FA Cup final upsets in recent memory by beating Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Palace lifted the trophy for the first time and ensured once dominant City ends a campaign empty-handed for the first time in eight years.

Eberechi Eze’s first-half strike secured Palace's first major trophy.

As cup final upsets go, it was up there with Wigan’s victory over City in 2013 and Wimbledon’s famous win against Liverpool in 1988.

The outcome might have been different if Omar Marmoush had converted a first-half penalty to level the score, but his effort was saved by Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

The cup triumph came at the third time of asking for Palace, which lost its previous finals in 1990 and 2016, both to Manchester United.

City has suffered back-to-back defeats in the final, having lost to United last year.

While the result will go down as an upset, in the context of City’s season, it was just a latest disappointment.

A troubled campaign has seen Pep Guardiola's team tamely surrender the Premier League title after four triumphs in a row and crash out of the Champions League in the playoffs.

City’s form has been so bad by its high standards that it is still in danger of failing to qualify for next season’s Champions League with two games to go.

Its priority now is to secure a place in the Premier League top five that would gain entry to European club soccer’s top competition, while the Club World Cup next month offers a shot at some glory in the offseason.

Despite its troubles, City went into the sun-soaked final as the overwhelming favorite, as Guardiola looked to collect his 16th major trophy for the club.

But in front of more than 84,000 spectators, Palace went ahead in the 16th minute when Eze swept home Daniel Munoz’s cross from inside the box at the end of a swift break.

Marmoush’s moment came 20 minutes later when Tyrick Mitchell brought down Bernardo Silva and referee Stuart Atwell pointed to the spot.

Despite City’s top scorer Erling Haaland being on the field, Marmoush placed the ball and his shot low into the corner was pushed away by Henderson, sparking almost as big a roar as Eze’s goal.

In the second half, Munoz had the Palace fans cheering again when squeezing the ball over the line, but the goal was ruled out for offside.