Three ways Crystal Palace can shock Man City and seal FA Cup glory
Crystal Palace produced one of the greatest victories in their history on Saturday as they downed Champions League quarter-finalists Aston Villa 3-0 at Wembley to reach just their third-ever FA Cup final.
The Eagles’ hunt for a maiden major trophy is very much alive and will come down to next month’s final, back at the national stadium.
Wobbly though they have been for much of this season, Manchester City will provide stern opposition at Wembley. They are FA Cup finalists for the third consecutive season.
While Pep Guardiola’s side will be favourites, Palace must harness the belief and replicate the high-octane football that knocked Villa out so convincingly.
Here, Standard Sport assesses three ways Palace can oust City and make May 17 the greatest day in their history.
Oliver Glasner made a brave decision in the semi-final, leaving Will Hughes and Jefferson Lerma on the bench in favour of Daichi Kamada, who was man of the match against Arsenal in midweek and so partnered Adam Wharton in midfield again at Wembley.
It worked a treat. Wharton was excellent, winning five of his seven ground duels, but Kamada was outstanding. He had a 90 per cent pass success rate and produced the sort of energetic performance Palace fans have seldom seen from the Japan international since his free-agent move in the summer.
The beauty for Glasner is that he now has three capable options to play alongside Wharton, who is surely the only certain starter in Palace’s double-pivot for the final. Glasner knows he can trust Lerma, Hughes and Kamada and will select whoever he feels will best nullify City.
Though their form has improved of late, City have looked vulnerable in midfield at times this season, with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, and Bernardo Silva often looking past their best and unable to stem the tide when being overrun in midfield. Palace will be wary of City’s threat, but can take heart from that and must believe they are good enough to win the midfield battle.
Palace were well beaten when they last faced Man City
AFP via Getty Images
Counter-attack clinically at pace
An ability to make good on opportunities to counter-attack is what took Crystal Palace to the FA Cup final in the first place.
Eberechi Eze’s opening goal came from a swift move after Pau Torres’s clearance struck Ismaila Sarr’s midriff, and both of Sarr’s goals came from quick turnovers of possession. The third, in particular, was a lightning-quick move in which Eddie Nketiah won the ball, fed Sarr, and the Senegalese forward finished ruthlessly.
City have been hurt on the counter-attack more this season than in recent campaigns, and that should give Palace confidence, especially with options from the bench like Nketiah and Romain Esse also able to move at pace. The Eagles can profit from speedy transitions if they are decisive in the final third.
Munoz and Sarr could prove key to Palace’s FA Cup dreams
The FA via Getty Images
The signing of Daniel Munoz from Genk last January has completely revolutionised how Palace build attacks down the right-hand side, particularly since Glasner came in as manager and moved to a 3-4-3 system with Munoz as his undroppable right wing-back.
The 28-year-old plays very high and very wide, such that his overlapping and underlapping runs mirror those of Palace’s left-sided attacker, Sarr, rather than Munoz’s nominal counterpart at left wing-back, Tyrick Mitchell.
Only Jean-Philippe Mateta and Sarr have more league goals for Palace than Munoz this season, while Eberechi Eze is their only player with more assists than his four.
And Munoz combines well with right-sided centre-back Chris Richards and with both Eze and Sarr in the attacking midfield roles, where they drift across and engage in snappy passing with the Colombian. Repeat that against City and they can bamboozle Guardiola’s men down that flank. It can be a route to goal that bears fruit and gives Palace their greatest day.
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