
Topics: Manchester City, Champions League, Crystal Palace, FA Cup, Premier League
Topics: Manchester City, Champions League, Crystal Palace, FA Cup, Premier League
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola made his frustration obvious after his team were defeated in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
Man City were defeated by Crystal Palace and will end the season without major honours after falling short on all four fronts.
Guardiola was incapable of taking the loss lying down and refused to shake hands with the Palace player who had perhaps the biggest impact of all in winning his club's first major trophy.
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Eberechi Eze scored the only goal of the game at the end of a lethal Palace counter-attack but Eagles goalkeeper Dean Henderson was in the spotlight throughout the first half.
He escaped a red card after a handball was deemed by the officials not to have denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity for Erling Haaland, despite the goalkeeper pawing the ball out of the striker's path outside his penalty area with no defensive cover in place until after the ball had been removed from the vicinity by outlawed means.
After dodging a dismissal he pulled off an excellent penalty save from Omar Marmoush and went on to deny City with a string of fine saves, in the first half especially, before backstopping Palace's defensive effort in the second.
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Guardiola couldn't bring himself to shake Henderson's hand in the moments after the final whistle at Wembley, shaking a finger and sparking a verbal altercation that probably didn't do much to take the shine off the trophy and medals for Henderson and his manager, Oliver Glasner, who was also on the scene.
The Man City boss hasn't got to where he is by enjoying defeat but will be criticised for the on-field spat with Henderson, who appeared to respond with a comment and gesture about the very generous 10 minutes of stoppage time added on at the end of the final.
England internationals Eze and Henderson were instrumental, leading the Eagles to their first FA Cup win after they lost finals in 1990 and 2016.
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Veterans of both those losses were present at Wembley to enjoy the moment. Like Palace chairman Steve Parish and an emotional Mark Bright, former England managers Roy Hodgson and Gareth Southgate were on hand to herald a historic moment for their old club.
Manchester City have suffered a first season without a trophy that counts since 2016-17.