 Crystal Palace lifting the trophy | |||||||
| Event | 2024–25 FA Cup | ||||||
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| Date | 17 May 2025 (2025-05-17) | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium,London | ||||||
| Player of the Match | Daniel Muñoz (Crystal Palace)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Stuart Attwell (Birmingham)[2] | ||||||
| Attendance | 84,163 | ||||||
| Weather | Sunny | ||||||
←2024 2026 → | |||||||
The2025 FA Cup final was afootball match played atWembley Stadium in London, England, on 17 May 2025 betweenCrystal Palace andManchester City that determined the winners of the2024–25 FA Cup. It was the144th final of English football's primary cup competition, theFootball Association Challenge Cup.
Crystal Palace won the match 1–0 after a first-half goal from wingerEberechi Eze and a penalty save by goalkeeperDean Henderson, resulting in the club winning their first-ever major trophy, excluding defunct competitions (having previously won the 1991 Full Member's Cup). As winners, they earned the right to play againstLiverpool, the winners of the2024–25 Premier League, in the2025 FA Community Shield. However, they lost the right to play in the league phase of the UEFA Europa League which is given to the FA Cup winners due to the fellow qualification to the league phase of the2025–26 UEFA Europa League forOlympique Lyonnais, who had a same major shareholder with them, had a higher league position in the same season, after their successful relegation appeal.[3][4] Nevertheless, they were instead given a berth to play in the play-off round of the2025–26 UEFA Conference League. It also meant that Crystal Palace qualified to a major European competition for the first time in club history[5] This decision was appealed by Crystal Palace but was unsuccessful.[6][7]
For Manchester City, this was their third consecutive FA Cup final, and second defeat in a row, becoming the tenth team to lose consecutive finals.
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd | Stockport County (H) | 1–0 |
| 4th | Doncaster Rovers (A) | 2–0 |
| 5th | Millwall (H) | 3–1 |
| QF | Fulham (A) | 3–0 |
| SF | Aston Villa (N) | 3–0 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) =Neutral venue | ||
As a Premier League team,Crystal Palace entered the tournament in the third round. They began their FA Cup journey with a narrow 1–0 home win overStockport County; the lone goal scored byEberechi Eze.[8] Palace then defeated League Two sideDoncaster Rovers 2–0, with goals coming fromDaniel Muñoz andJustin Devenny.[9] In the fifth round against fellow rivalsMillwall in the south-east London derby, Crystal Palace strikerJean-Philippe Mateta was stretchered off just nine minutes into the match following a collision with Millwall goalkeeperLiam Roberts, who was shown a straight red card for striking Mateta in the head with his boot—a challenge that left Mateta needing 25 stitches. With Millwall reduced to ten men, Palace quickly took control, earning a 3–1 victory through aJaphet Tanganga own goal, followed by goals from Daniel Muñoz andEddie Nketiah.[10][11][12]
In the quarter-finals, Crystal Palace were drawn against fellow Premier League clubFulham. Despite being away atCraven Cottage, Palace comfortably dispatched the south-west London side 3–0, with Eberechi Eze,Ismaïla Sarr, and Eddie Nketiah all getting their names on the scoresheet.[13] In the semi-finals againstAston Villa atWembley, Crystal Palace secured a 3–0 victory courtesy of a goal from Eberechi Eze followed by an Ismaïla Sarr brace. This victory sent Palace through to their third FA Cup final, and their first since2016, when they were defeated 2–1 byManchester United, withJoel Ward the only remaining player from that side.[14]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd | Salford City (H) | 8–0 |
| 4th | Leyton Orient (A) | 2–1 |
| 5th | Plymouth Argyle (H) | 3–1 |
| QF | Bournemouth (A) | 2–1 |
| SF | Nottingham Forest (N) | 2–0 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) =Neutral venue | ||
As a Premier League team,Manchester City entered the tournament in the third round. City began their FA Cup campaign with a commanding 8–0 victory at home against League Two sideSalford City. The majority of the goals came fromJames McAtee, who scored a second-half hat-trick, andJérémy Doku, who scored a brace, withDivin Mubama,Jack Grealish, andNico O'Reilly also contributing to the scoring.[15] This was their biggest win since defeatingWatford by the same score in 2019. City survived an early scare againstLeyton Orient in the fourth round, with goals fromAbdukodir Khusanov andKevin de Bruyne required to nullify aStefan Ortega own goal.[16] In the fifth round, City defeatedPlymouth Argyle 3–1 despite an opener from Plymouth'sMaksym Talovierov due to two goals by Nico O'Reilly, and a goal and an assist from Kevin de Bruyne.[17]
In the quarter-finals, Manchester City were drawn against fellow Premier League teamBournemouth, facing them away from home atDean Court.Evanilson gave Bournemouth a first-half lead, but for the third match in a row, City mounted a comeback, with second-half goals from strikersErling Haaland andOmar Marmoush securing the victory.[18] In the semi-finals at Wembley, City defeatedNottingham Forest 2–0 by virtue of goals fromRico Lewis andJoško Gvardiol. This marked the first time Manchester City featured in three consecutive FA Cup finals, having previously played in the2023 and2024 finals respectively.[19]
The pre-match show featured DJ Tony Perry, supported by theMassed Bands of His Majesty's Royal Marines.[20] "Abide with Me", the traditional pre-match cup final hymn, was sung by Sinead Ashiokai, while Siena MBC performed the national anthem "God Save the King".[20]
Pep Guardiola named a strong attacking lineup for City, and early on, they dominated proceedings.Erling Haaland had the first clear-cut chance in the 6th minute when he met a deep cross at the far post, but Palace keeperDean Henderson blocked it out for a corner. City continued to dominate and had several corners as both Gvardiol and Akanji had headers saved by Henderson. However against the run of play Crystal Palace hit City on the counterattack, after a clearance upfield by defenderChris Richards metJean-Philippe Mateta who, in a neat one two withDaichi Kamada then releasedDaniel Muñoz to race up the wing and cross in from the right forEberechi Eze to first-time volley and score in the 16th minute.[21][22] Munoz nearly provided a second goal for Palace just three minutes later in another run up the wing in a near identical move, only forIsmaïla Sarr's shot to be blocked by the legs of City keeper Ortega.
In the 23rd minute, a moment of controversy came in the game when City'sErling Haaland and Palace goalkeeperDean Henderson challenged for a long ball by City'sJoško Gvardiol, with Henderson palming the ball away when it was outside the penalty box. Despite Henderson's legs being inside the penalty box; thevideo assistant referee reviewed the incident and declined to recommend a red card for Henderson.[23] However, in the 36th minute City were awarded a penalty after Palace'sTyrick Mitchell was judged to have fouled City'sBernardo Silva, who had already started to fall when Mitchell performed a sliding challenge; however Henderson blocked the resultant penalty byOmar Marmoush down to his right, who also saved Haaland's follow-up shot.[21][24] Doku had a shot saved by Henderson in the 42nd minute and captainMarc Guéhi cleared the parried shot before City could head it in, but at half time Palace led 1–0.
In the second half, City had a chance from the restart when a deep cross was cleared from the back post by Palace defender Chris Richards, preventing a certain Haaland headed goal. Palace then started to threaten the Manchester City goal and had several good chances to double their advantage. A deep throw by Richards in the box in the 49th minute saw Eze's goal-bound shot hit his captain, Marc Guehi, in a packed box, with the resulting injury to Guehi's eye later forcing his substitution ten minutes later. City'sBernardo Silva had a good chance blocked by Palace in the 55th minute, but just three minutes later, Palace thought they had scored.Chris Richards' deep throw-in led to confusion in the box, and the resulting ricochet saw Muñoz react quickest to score before Ortega could react to go 2–0 up. However, on checking with VAR, it was later ruled out due to an offside call onIsmaïla Sarr.Daichi Kamada then had a chance in the 67th minute after a Palace corner was poorly cleared by City and fell to Kamada outside the box, whose shot whipped just over the bar.
As time ticked on, City tried to push for an equaliser as Palace suffered another injury to one of their players. In the 71st minuteKevin De Bruyne's shot outside the box pole axed Palace midfielderAdam Wharton as he blocked the shot. Wharton persevered in the match but was later replaced byWill Hughes in the 86th minute, Hughes having been a losing finalist to Manchester City when atWatford F.C. in the 2019 Final.Nico O'Reilly then had a golden chance for City to score in the 74th minute when he found himself clear on goal in the box, but he took too long to think about his shot, and Palace were able to smother him with their defenders to clear the ball away.
A number of substitutions came with 15 minutes left of normal time. Palace striker Mateta was substituted forEddie Nketiah, a former FA Cup winner for Arsenal in 2020, while City brought onPhil Foden andClaudio Echeverri for Silva and Marmoush as Pep Guardiola looked to change things. Echeverri was a surprise inclusion in the squad, but within five minutes of coming on he had a great chance to score when his shot was saved by Henderson in the 81st minute. Munoz then had a shot whip across goal in the 86th minute for Palace before Pep then brought onİlkay Gündoğan for Silva as City went for broke.
There were ten minutes of injury time in the game, during which De Bruyne had a shot at goal in the 92nd minute as City tried to force an equaliser to take the game into extra time. In the 95th minute, Echeverri had two golden chances to score, the first being saved by Palace keeper Henderson, and his second blocked by Palace defenders to prevent a certain goal. Palace then held out fairly comfortably in the final five minutes before the referee finally blew his whistle to end the game and give Crystal Palace their first ever FA Cup at the third time of asking. As Palace went up to collect the Cup unused substituteJoel Ward, who was the last surviving Palace player from the 2016 FA Cup Final and was leaving at the end of the season after 13 years, was given the honour to lift the Cup with captain Marc Guehi.
          Crystal Palace |      Manchester City |
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Player of the Match: Assistant referees:[2] | Match rules
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Crystal Palace's win was the first major trophy in their history and also meant they qualified for theUEFA Europa League league phase, marking the first time the team qualified for a UEFA competition in their history. They also qualified for the2025 FA Community Shield to face2024–25 Premier League champions Liverpool.
Manchester City's defeat was their second in consecutive FA Cup finals. Having finished third in the Premier League and exited theEFL Cup in the 4th round and theChampions League in the knockout play-off phase, the defeat meant Manchester City would finish the season without a trophy for the first time since the2016–17 season.
Despite the FA Cup winners getting a spot in the Europa League automatically, Palace's participation in Europe was later downgraded to theUEFA Conference League due to joint-ownerJohn Textor also owning a stake in French clubLyon. UEFA ruled that Palace were in breach of their multi-club ownership rules; because Lyon finished 6th in their league and Palace 12th, Lyon were awarded the Europa League spot.[4][5] This decision was appealed by Crystal Palace but was unsuccessful.[6][7]
On 26 May, Crystal Palace held a victory celebration with an open-top bus victory parade around south London before arriving atSelhurst Park for a party.[25][26]
The final was televised live in the UK onBBC One,ITV1,STV andUTV, and streamed viaBBC iPlayer,ITVX andSTV Player.[20] National radio coverage was provided byBBC Radio 5 Live andTalksport,[20] with local radio stationsBBC Radio London andBBC Radio Manchester also broadcasting match commentaries.[27][28]
