How Crystal Palace won the FA Cup: tactical analysis

Crystal Palace made history at Wembley by beating Manchester City to win their first major trophy since being founded in 1905. The teams may only have been divided by one goal, but it was a game full of chances, incident and controversy. For City it represented the latest disappointment in a season that will end without silverware – the first time that has happened since Pep Guardiola’s debut campaign in 2016/17. Oliver Glasner’s team, by contrast, sent their fans into raptures on what was undoubtedly the greatest day in Crystal Palace’s history.

The tone of this final was set in the opening stages, with City dominating possession and territory, forcing Palace on the back foot. Cue Palace scoring with their first real attack of the game, as Eberechi Eze converted a Daniel Muñoz cross from a slick counter-attack. 

Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson was probably fortunate not to receive a red card, having clearly handled outside the box to deny Erling Haaland. The VAR decided that City’s striker was moving away from goal and therefore had not been denied a clear opportunity. Henderson then rubbed salt into City wounds by saving a penalty from Omar Marmoush, after Bernardo Silva had been fouled and Haaland had opted not to take the kick.

City continued to dominate possession in the second half, but could not find a way through. Palace also had a goal disallowed for offside, as they battled hard to get over the line. Having lost their two previous finals to Manchester United in heartbreaking fashion, in 1990 and 2016, on this occasion Palace would not be denied.

How the managers saw it

“We scored the first time we were in their half and then we defended with every single phase of the body and a great goalkeeper, a great mentality and togetherness,” said Glasner. “We analysed the games when we conceded a lot of goals [to City] and we saw that when they find the pocket we are vulnerable. That happened in the first half when they got the penalty. [Daichi] Kamada was a little bit impatient, stepped out and then they played quick passes into the gaps. This is what you want to avoid. We gave them more possession without letting them into the pockets. We let them cross, we know we can defend those. It was all about being patient and finding the right moments.”

“We played a good defensive game and controlled the transitions and [Palace’s] incredible threat – except the goal,” said Guardiola. “They are difficult to control at throw-ins and corners and free-kicks, but we could not score. We created a lot, but we didn’t score and that’s why we could not win.”

Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches highlight the key tactical points from Palace’s victory…

Working the inside channels

Crystal Palace spent most of the game in their own half defending in a 5-2-3. For City, Nico O’Reilly moved into midfield from left-back, attacking between winger Jérémy Doku – who held the width on the left – and Silva as the single pivot. Kevin De Bruyne completed City’s midfield three, as Marmoush often worked up top with Haaland against Palace’s three centre-backs. The remainder of City’s back line then built in a three (below), often working passes around Palace’s first line.

Palace’s double pivots initially screened and blocked attempted passes into Haaland and Marmoush. When City’s back line began stepping forward with the ball, one of Palace’s pivots was forced to jump out. This caused few problems when it was on City’s left, because Ismaïla Sarr often tracked and covered O’Reilly’s movement (below). But on City’s right, De Bruyne found a clever pocket to receive between the lines – especially when Palace’s left centre-back Marc Guéhi couldn’t jump out due to Marmoush’s positioning. De Bruyne was able to play a few dangerous crosses and passes into the box early on. The Belgian was City’s most creative threat within the Palace block.

City continued to search for players within the inside channels in the first half, as their wingers provided little threat on the ball – especially in their regular 1v1s. As one of City’s back three stepped in with the ball, De Bruyne and Silva rotated. In response, Kamada jumped out (below) when City probed the right inside channel, which made the space between Palace’s lines temporarily bigger. City’s ball-carrying defenders were excellent in timing their release of pass, from which Silva and Marmoush combined well – not least when earning the penalty that the latter failed to convert.

Releasing Muñoz

Jean-Philippe Mateta’s hold-up play was key during Palace’s rare attacks. Although City dealt with most of Palace’s attempted balls over, Glasner’s team took the lead on the one occasion that Mateta got the better of his opponents. Eze was always on hand to support a direct ball into Mateta, helping to play away from City’s recovering City. Meanwhile, Sarr’s initially deeper position gave O’Reilly a significant problem, drawing the City youngster forward. With Josko Gvardiol concerned about the ball into Mateta, Palace right wing-back Muñoz had a huge space to advance into. This led to his superb delivery for Eze’s finish, giving Palace something to protect in their low block.

Although Palace’s attacks were few, their ability to connect and advance Muñoz into crossing positions gave them what proved to be just enough of a threat. Sarr’s dropping helped link into Muñoz during switches of play, or from dead balls such as throw-ins. Eze and Mateta’s forward running pushed City’s back line deeper, with Sarr timing his movements the other way to receive away from City’s midfield. From there, Muñoz burst forward on the outside, looking to run in behind against the recovering O’Reilly (below).

City’s wingers dribbling

In the second half, City’s wide players attacked their opponents with much more aggression and purpose. They continued to hold the width, but began to drive at their wing-back markers, looking to cut inside and cross, or knock and run on the outside and deliver. Savinho in particular started well in the second half, providing regular balls into the box. City, however, often lacked either numbers in the box or the appropriate positioning to capitalise.

De Bruyne’s increasingly deep position helped find Savinho more. But City’s best passer and creator was often too deep – deeper than Manuel Akanji (below), which also came with increased responsibility to cover Palace counter-attacks.

Glasner must take credit for a tactical tweak that helped his team to keep a clean sheet. In the second half, Palace increased their central protection to do an outstanding job of limiting City’s inside-channel access. The midfield pair and front three formed an incredibly compact unit of five, ahead of the back line (below), with much deeper positioning to limit City.

Although this naturally sacrificed much of Palace’s counter-attacking threat – due to their distance from the halfway line – Eze, Sarr and Mateta (who was replaced by Eddie Nketiah on 78 minutes) superbly protected access into City’s central attackers.

This contributed to City increasing their wing play in the second half. But despite consistently entering the final third, City were unable to convert their territory into goals. Palace defenders blocked and Henderson produced key saves when needed. And when the final whistle blew, the south London club were finally able to celebrate a major trophy.

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