Palace 1-2 UnitedManchester United ended their 12 year wait for an FA Cup win as a stunning Jesse Lingard helped their 10 men the cup as Louis Van Gaal's turbulent reign as manager had a positive end.
United were the by no means the better team in the first half, in the second half they improved, hitting the woodwork, but couldn't take their chances and were eventually made to pay as Jason Puncheon's impressive far-post finish put Palace ahead with just 12 minutes remaining.
United hit back soon after however as Wayne Rooney's cross, after the United captain's stunning dribble through the Palace defence, eventually found its way to Juan Mata, whose deflected finish levelled the final.
It meant extra-time and it seemed as if penalties were on the cards as neither side looked to be taking control in that period, but after Chris Smalling saw a deserved red card for a second bookable offence, Palace had a brilliant opportunity to find a winner
But it was United who stole the day as Antonio Valencia's cross was half-cleared to Jesse Lingard who provided a stunning finish to give his side the lead, and it was him who cleared over halfway to end the game and United's long wait for their FA Cup win.
Analysis
The cup win wasn't enough for Louis Van Gaal to escape an inevitable sacking. Mourinho's move to Manchester has been on the cards for a while, with the Portuguese reportedly buying a house in Manchester and Van Gaal's future being in doubt given the dull, uninspiring football his side have played this season (resulting in them missing out on Champions League Football), coupled together with his and his family's desire go retire.
Van Gaal had a great send-off to a difficult career.
For his rival, it was a third FA Cup final defeat after Palace's defeat in 1990 to United and his 2006 to Liverpool as West Ham manager. It seems he's cursed but he set his team up superbly to hit United on the break and might have thought that spell was over when Joel Ward's stunning over the top ball found Puncheon in acres, and he powered home. He seemed so confident that he pulled out dance moves that might have been funny if they had won, but he will be reminded and showed in years to come for cringe worthy cockiness.
He will ultimately feel aggrieved at the lack of advantages played by Mark Clattenburg which prevented Conor Wickham giving Palace a first half lead. But for Van Gaal, it is another trophy in the cabinet to cap-off a career that was at times sublime and at others ridiculous at Manchester United and perhaps could be the end of what has been an impressive career in the game.
Pardew was visibly angry as Wickham wasn't allowed to continue
Regarding the players, it will go down as a good day for Wayne Rooney, but he has once again received heaps of praise and Man of the Match awards for a performance that many want to believe was much better than actually it was. He looked devoid of ideas trying to run the show from midfield, his only real moment of magic was setting up Mata and whilst it was vital, he did not put in a performance which suddenly gives me the confidence that he will shine, or is even worthy of being at Euro 2016.
Fellaini was United's finest player, or certainly their most dangerous, he was difficult to control at set piece and was able to decisively execute going forward, he did superbly to tip the ball of his chest down to Mata for the equalizer. Mata himself played ok, producing United's best moment of the first half as he forced an excellent save from Wayne Hennessy and then obviously the goal but he ran into a lot of dead ends. Defensively United were reasonably strong but were exposed at times and should not have allowed Puncheon to be in so much space, onside. Smalling looked incredibly shaky and whilst he should start for England, his red card will increase concerns about their defence building up to Russia.
For Palace it is a devastating defeat and the commitment and fitness of all their players was hugely commendable. Super-sub Puncheon provided the goal but Bolasie and Wickham both looked to create chances throughout. The most dangerous player was Wilfried Zaha but his lack of composure in front of goal meant he couldn't be a winning difference. Cabaye was poor offensively, providing little for his attackers to work with. The Palace defence was decent, but they let Rooney slalom through too easily and were not switched on to Mata at the back post but there was little they could do as the second goal took their cup dreams away.
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