- Manchester City face Crystal Palace in the final of English football’s FA Cup competition.
- The match at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom kicks off at 4:30pm (15:30 GMT).
- Manchester City won five trophies in 2023 but the cup marks their only chance of lifting silverware this season.
- Palace, who are making their third appearance in the final of the competition, are yet to lift the cup.
- City are one place and point off the Champions League qualification spots in the Premier League but do have a game in hand.
Corner to Man City
Haaland rises high and heads wide a corner kick from Foden.
81 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Crystal Palace are 10 minutes away from a major trophy
Only 10 minutes of normal time remaining in this FA Cup final.
If Palace hold on to their lead, they will lift a major trophy for the first time in their club’s 119-year history and book a place in European football next season.
80 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Mateta off
The Palace forward makes way for Nketiah, as Palace make their second change.
Can Palace hold on to their lead and close out a historic victory? Let’s wait and watch!
78 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Man City make a double change
Guardiola introduces his first set of substitutions, bringing on Echeverri and Foden for Savinho and Marmoush.
76 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
O’Reilly wastes a good chance
O’Reilly wastes a golden goal-scoring opportunity, as he fails to shoot from close range after being set up on the left side of the box with an excellent through ball by De Bruyne. The youngster took a touch too many before shooting, allowing a Palace defender enough time to clear it.
Soon after, Silva goes into the referee’s book for his tackle on Mateta.
75 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Wharton fit to continue
Wharton is going to the sidelines to receive medical treatment. He should be back on in a short while.
74 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Chance for De Bruyne!
Doku finds De Bruyne at the edge of the box, on the left side, as City charge forward.
The Belgian playmaker swings his right foot for a solid strike, but the ball hits the head of Wharton, knocking him down.
72 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Corner to Crystal Palace
Wharton swings the ball from the right corner flag into the six-yard area, where a header is initially cleared away. Soon after, Kamada shoots towards the top corner, but misses the target.
O’Reilly booked
The City defender is shown a yellow card for pulling Munoz’s arm from behind during a challenge. Silly!
67 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Palace make first change
Lerma replaces Guehi, as Palace make their first substitution.
Meanwhile, a scuffle breaks out on the sidelines involving the backroom staff from each team. Not sure what they were angry about.
62 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
GOAL DISALLOWED
Munoz’s goal has been disallowed after it was found that Sarr was offside in the buildup.
Munoz’s initial strike bounced off Sarr’s body before Munoz scored on the rebound.
60 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
GOAL! Munoz puts Crystal Palace 2-0 up!
Crystal Palace have doubled their lead! Can you believe it?
It’s Munoz who gets on the scoresheet, beating the goalkeeper at the near post with a quick tap-in.
58 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Kamada stops Silva from shooting
Doku slips a pass for Silva in the box, but before he can shoot from the left side, Kamada intercepts with a sliding challenge. Great defending from Palace!
City earn a subsequent corner-kick, but Haaland shoots high and wide from it.
56 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Henderson’s new look for the second half
On the other end, Palace’s Henderson is in goal, rocking a blue-coloured cap. Yes, you read that right!
53 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Chance for Eze
Eze tries to volley the ball from close range, but Akanji gets his body in the way. Eze was set up after a throw-in from Richards was headed into his path, about 15 yards out from the goal.
51 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Doku shoots wide
Doku, from the left side of the box, takes one touch before unleashing a right-footed shot, which flies over the net. The Belgian was aiming for the top right corner of the net.
50 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Superb clearance from Richards
Savinho runs up the right flank and crosses the ball in the six-yard area, where Richards comfortably clears the danger with a header, stopping Haaland from heading the ball into the net.
47 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Second half kicks off
We’re back for the second half at Wembley, where Crystal Palace are leading 1-0 against Manchester City in the FA Cup final, thanks to Eze’s first-half strike.
Palace are 45 minutes away from clinching their first-ever major trophy and celebrating their greatest day in the club’s history.
46 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Photos: The managers’ view
Photos: Famous faces for the FA Cup final
Half-time: Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester City
Crystal Palace players walk off at the break to a huge round of applause from their fans, as they have a 1-0 lead against Man City.
City dominated possession for the whole of the first half, but Eze’s sensational finish from a counter-attack guided Palace to a 1-0 lead.
Guardiola’s side had the chance to equalise shortly before the break when Mitchell gifted them a penalty, but Marmoush missed from the spot, as Henderson pulled off a series of fantastic saves.
Three minutes added
Eze, the goalscorer, goes to the ground following a challenge from De Bruyne.
45+1 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Henderson saves Doku’s terrific attempt
Henderson dives to his left to parry away a shot from Doku, which seemed to be travelling to the top right corner of the net. The ball then drops for De Bruyne, but his effort flies over the bar.
43 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Henderson turns around his fortunes
A few minutes ago, it seemed Henderson would be sent off for his clumsy clearance near the box in an incident involving Haaland.
Now, the Palace keeper has turned out to be their hero with a penalty save in an FA Cup final.
38 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Henderson saves Marmoush’s penalty
Marmoush takes the ball away from Haaland and steps up for the set-piece after VAR undergoes a quick check for the penalty.
The Egyptian forward unleashes a right-footed shot towards the bottom left corner, but Henderson dives and saves.
Haaland tries to play the ball back into the net on the follow-up, but Henderson saves again.
36 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Penalty to Man City
Man City’s Silva goes down in the box following a sliding tackle by Mitchell.
The referee doesn’t take too long to signal to the spot for a penalty.
33 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
No penalty
City players appeal to the referee for a potential handball against Henderson inside the box while he swept away the ball from Haaland, but replays showed the incident was outside the box. No penalty to City.
25 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
We’re half hour in
Doku and O’Reilly try to find their way towards the goal from the left side, but neither can trouble the Palace defence or the goalkeeper.
31 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Scary moment for Palace
Henderson fails to clear the ball in the box and Haaland is played through on goal. The Norwegian pulls it back for Marmoush at the edge of the box, but he fails to shoot.
24 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Almost another for Palace!
Once again, Munoz whips a fantastic squared pass from the right side into the six-yard area where Sarr almost sweeps it home at the near post before Ortega bends low to stop his shot.
21 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
GOAL! Eze sends Crystal Palace 1-0 up
Against the run of play, Crystal Palace take a 1-0 lead against Manchester City.
Eze does the job brilliantly for Palace, drilling a low shot from about 15 yards out following a solid cross from Munoz from the right side.
It was a terrific counterattack from Palace, involving Kamada and Mateta in the build-up.
16 mins: Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City
Chance for Man City
Savinho makes a good run at the back post and tries to head a cross from Silva into the top corner, but Mitchell clears for a corner.
From the set-piece, Akanji’s header flies over the net.
14 mins: Crystal Palace 0-0 Man City
City dominating
It’s all City at the moment. Palace have largely been in their own half for the opening minutes.
Guardiola’s side have a whopping 89 percent possession. That should tell you everything.
13 mins: Crystal Palace 0-0 Man City
Corner to Man City
Savinho swings the ball from the right corner flag into the six-yard area where Gvardiol heads it goalwards, but Henderson punches it away with ease.
11 mins: Crystal Palace 0-0 Man City
Henderson denies Haaland
De Bruyne clips the ball over the Palace defence and finds Haaland at the far post, where the Norwegian pokes it goalwards, but Palace keeper Henderson scrambles to clear it away for a corner.
7 mins: Crystal Palace 0-0 Man City
City enjoying a good start
Eze intercepts a pass by De Bruyne and tries to start a counterattack, but Akanji quickly recovers.
So far, the ball has been largely with City, who are hovering around the Palace box.
6 mins: Crystal Palace 0-0 Man City
City get the ball rolling
Akanji finds Savinho on the right wing, and as the latter tries to charge towards the box, a Palace defender closes him down.
City are trying to make use of their right side to prompt an attack.
4 mins: Crystal Palace 0-0 Man City
Gvardiol down
An early clash of heads between Gvardiol and Mateta leaves the City player on the ground temporarily. The referee has a quick check, and the Croatian is fit to continue.
2 mins: Crystal Palace 0-0 Man City
KICKOFF!
The referee has blown the whistle and the match is under way at Wembley.
Crystal Palace are wearing red-and-blue stripes, while Man City are dressed in light blue and white.
1 min: Crystal Palace 0-0 Man City
We’re set
After a rendition of the United Kingdom’s national anthem, the players are ready for kickoff. Both teams were greeted by Prince William before it.
FA Cup Final – poll results
Here is who you think will win the final:
- Manchester City – 55.5%
- Crystal Palace – 44.5%
And here is who you think will score first:
- Erling Haaland (MC) – 32.3%
- Kevin De Bruyne (MC) – 13.5%
- Eberechi Eze (CP) – 32.6%
- Jean-Philippe Mateta (CP) – 21.5%
Teams emerge
Both teams have made their way to the centre of the field and are exchanging handshakes before we get ready for kickoff.
If you have just tuned in, last year’s Premier League champions Man City are facing Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final, hoping to end an underwhelming season with some silverware.
Should they fail to do so, it would be their first trophy-less season under Guardiola since 2016-17.
Palace, on the other hand, are looking to lift a major trophy for the first time in the club’s 119-year history.
Photos: Man City warm up
Players are in the tunnel
Players of Crystal Palace and Manchester City are making their way out from the tunnel onto the field at the iconic Wembley Stadium.
Man City, playing in their third straight FA Cup final, are aiming for their eighth title in the competition, while Crystal Palace are searching for their first-ever major trophy.
Kickoff is coming up shortly, so stay tuned for the live coverage of Saturday’s exciting clash featuring the two Premier League teams.
Head-to-head
This is the 74th meeting between the two teams in a fixture dating back to 1921.
Palace were 2-0 winners in an FA Cup meeting in the third round that year.
City stormed back in the next meeting between the clubs – once again in the FA Cup – beating Palace 11-4 in February 1926.
Overall, City have claimed the spoils on 39 occasions and the Eagles soaring to victory after 17 of the meetings.
Palace haven’t recorded a win in their last seven encounters with City, who have won four in that time.
A reminder of Crystal Palace’s team sheet
Crystal Palace XI: Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Mateta
Substitutes: Turner, Clyne, Chilwell, Lerma, Ward, Devenny, Hughes, Nketiah, Esse
A reminder of Man City’s team sheet
Man City XI: Ortega; Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Silva, De Bruyne; Savinho, Marmoush, Doku; Haaland
Substitutes: Ederson, Khusanov, Nunes, Reis, Echeverri, Gundogan, Gonzalez, Grealish, Foden
Photos: Crystal Palace’s warm-up
Palace’s cup final belief
Palace may be 12th in the Premier League, but have matched their record points tally with two games still to play.
In the FA Cup, they have clicked impressively, winning 3-0 at Fulham in the quarterfinals and then beating Villa by the same margin at Wembley in the semis.
Now, they have one last obstacle to get over and claim the south London club’s first major trophy in its 120-year history.
Palace drew 2-2 with City at Selhurst Park in the league and led 2-0 in the return fixture, only to lose 5-2. They also lost 4-2 last April, a couple of months after Glasner took charge.
Scoring goals against Pep Guardiola’s team has not been a problem, but Glasner knows they will need to adjust defensively to give themselves the best possible chance at Wembley.
“In every single game [against City] we scored two goals, but we just had one draw, because we conceded four, two and five, so we have to make a few adjustments in our defending,” he said. “Because when you concede five, it’s tough to win, but when you score two, you should be able to win.
“So, we have confidence that we will create our chances, we will create our situations to score goals, but we have to do better in defence, and I don’t mean the back three or the back five. So as a team, maybe we have to adjust a few things, and this is what we want to do tomorrow.”
Pep’s praise for Palace
Pep Guardiola has praised Oliver Glasner’s Palace, who knocked out fellow Premier League sides Fulham and Aston Villa to reach the final.
Palace, who are 12th in the league table, are seeking their first major trophy, having fallen in the final in 1990 and 2016, losing to Manchester United on both occasions.
“It is a fantastic team. They have had a really good second part of the season. They have had more than a year with Oliver working with the same players,” Guardiola said.
“They are a threat because they have quality. [Striker Jean-Philippe] Mateta is strong, and the quality in [Eberechi] Eze is obvious and, of course, the pace from [fellow forward Ismaila] Sarr … [Adam] Wharton is a really good holding midfielder.
“They are well structured defensively and their set-pieces are one of the best in the Premier League.”
Focus 90 percent on Palace
The quiet confidence seeping out of Crystal Palace’s training ground before the final against Manchester City was summed up by manager Oliver Glasner on Friday.
“We’re focused on what we want to do at Wembley. We analysed Man City, but 90 percent, we were talking about us,” Glasner, who will become the first Austrian to lead a team in an FA Cup final, told reporters.
“This is what we can influence. We can influence our performance. We can influence what we want to do in and out of possession. And the focus was on our game. We have a lot of confidence and [are] looking forward to the final.”
Photos: The teams’ arrival
Guardiola insists FA Cup important to City
The FA Cup was not Manchester City’s top priority this season, but now that they are in a third straight final, the club will go all out to win the trophy at Wembley, manager Pep Guardiola said.
City have had a “horrific season” in the words of striker Erling Haaland, with Guardiola’s side falling by the wayside in the Premier League title race while they were also eliminated in the Champions League knockout phase playoffs.
City are fourth in the Premier League and yet to secure Champions League qualification for next season – winning the FA Cup when they face Crystal Palace on Saturday may not be enough to salvage their campaign.
“That is the problem, right? The FA Cup now is not the first choice. Of course, we want it. Once we are here, of course, we want the trophy. It is massively important,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
“It’s the final of the FA Cup, it’s an honour and a privilege. Third time in a row being there, and we have to perform well. We travel to London to win the title.”
How many FA Cups have City won?
City are seven-time winners of the cup, with their first victory coming in 1904 against Bolton Wanderers.
Their last win was a 2-1 victory against their fierce rivals, Manchester United, in 2023.
Palace make two changes
Palace boss Glasner has made just two changes to the team that started in their 2-0 away victory against Tottenham Hotspur in a league game last weekend.
Midfielders Wharton and Kamada start ahead of Hughes and Lerma.
Wharton is returning to the lineup after recovering from an ankle injury.
What was Palace’s finest FA Cup moment?
Palace’s extraordinary and eventually heartbreaking 1990 campaign was their finest hour in the competition.
The semifinals and final(s) that year were arguably the most dramatic in the competition’s long and storied history and remain the emotional high and low point of every Palace fan who watched them.
Palace were struggling in the top flight after promotion and had been humiliated 9-0 by Liverpool early in the season.
In the Cup, they were hardly pulling up trees either, beating lower league Portsmouth, Huddersfield Town, Rochdale and Cambridge United to reach the semifinals for the first time since they lost to Southampton as a third division team in 1976.
Facing runaway champions-elect and FA Cup holders Liverpool again in the semis looked an insurmountable barrier and an Ian Rush goal had the Reds ahead at halftime at Villa Park.
Things then went crazy as Mark Bright and Gary O’Reilly gave Palace a shock lead. Two goals in two minutes put Liverpool back in front, only for Andy Gray to stun the odds-on favourites in the 88th minute to force extra time.
Amazingly, it was Palace who snatched victory in the 109th minute via Alan Pardew, who would later manage the club.
The cup final itself, against Manchester United, went to a replay after a stunning 3-3 draw in the first encounter.
United won the next match 1-0 with a goal from defender Lee Martin, which handed a young manager by the name of Alex Ferguson his first trophy as boss of the Red Devils.
Photos: Palace fans inside Wembley
Will this be De Bruyne’s dream send-off?
City’s fightback at the Etihad Stadium in the last encounter between the clubs was prompted by Kevin De Bruyne rolling back the years.
The Belgian has just three games left as a City player after a glorious decade in Manchester and will be aiming to add one more to his 14 major honours with the club.
“He has had an incredible time at Manchester City,” said City’s top scorer Erling Haaland.
“It is ridiculous how many trophies he has won. Hopefully, he will get one more trophy.”
Who is Crystal Palace’s key player?
Eberechi Eze is the main man for City to fear with five goals in his last four games.
But he is one of just four England internationals who reached the final of Euro 2024 likely to start for Palace on Saturday alongside Dean Henderson, Marc Guehi and Adam Wharton.
“It means everything,” said Eze on the prospect of delivering the club’s first taste of silverware.
“We know what it means to the fans, to the club. We’re going to give everything that we’ve got to put ourselves in the best position.
“We’re confident. We know that we’ve just got to do what we do and be the best version of ourselves, and we’ve got the chance of beating any team.”
Why has City’s season been ‘horrendous’?
After an unprecedented four consecutive English top-flight titles, City find themselves battling just to secure a top-five Premier League finish and a place in next season’s Champions League.
Anything other than victory would cap what striker Erling Haaland described as a “horrendous” campaign for a squad of serial winners.
City have not ended a season without a trophy since Guardiola’s first at the club in 2016/17.
“It is a good habit to reach Wembley and always important to win trophies. We have the FA Cup final to play for and in a horrific season we still managed to do this,” added the Norwegian.
Photos: The view inside Wembley
A look at the benches
Crystal Palace substitutes: Turner, Clyne, Chilwell, Lerma, Ward, Devenny, Hughes, Nketiah, Esse
Man City substitutes: Ederson, Khusanov, Nunes, Reis, Echeverri, Gundogan, Gonzalez, Grealish, Foden
How will Crystal Palace line up?
Palace will play in a 3-4-2-1 formation, with Mateta as their target man.
Sarr and Eze will form the attacking pair, while their four-man midfield will see Munoz and Mitchell on the wings.
The team is also boosted by Wharton’s return to central midfield.
Palace’s three-man defence remains the same as the last game, while Henderson starts in goal.
How will Man City line up?
Man City will play in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Haaland as the lone striker.
An attacking trio of Savinho, Marmoush and Doku will support the Norwegian.
Captain De Bruyne will form the double pivot with the experienced Silva, while the back-four sees O’Reilly slot in at left-back.
Ortega starts in goal, playing in his third consecutive FA Cup final.
Palace make two changes
Palace boss Glasner has made just two changes to the team that started in their 2-0 away victory against Tottenham Hotspur in a league game last weekend.
Midfielders Wharton and Kamada start ahead of Hughes and Lerma.
Wharton is returning to the lineup after recovering from an ankle injury.
Man City make five changes
City manager Guardiola has made five changes to the team that started in their goalless draw with Southampton in a league game last weekend.
Ortega starts in goal ahead of Ederson, while O’Reilly, Savinho, Marmoush and Doku replace Lewis, McAtee, Kovacic and Foden.
Ederson and Foden are on the bench but Lewis, Kovacic and McAtee are absent from the matchday squad.
Photos: The view outside Wembley
Early Crystal Palace team news
Midfielder Adam Wharton has returned to full fitness following an ankle injury.
It means the Eagles have a fully fit squad to choose from.
Early Man City team news
Haaland is expected to start after making his comeback from six weeks out injured at Southampton last weekend.
Rodri continues his slow return to full fitness, but with an eye on the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup in June, the cup final appears to have come too soon for a start.
Pre-match reading: Everton’s goodbye to Goodison
Liverpool, England – “I love it when it gets like this,” exclaimed the man beside me as he rubbed his hands with glee.
It was the Halloween of 2009, and in the gloom of an early winter’s afternoon, Goodison Park was at its best.
Everton were playing Aston Villa in a league match, which was becoming increasingly bad-tempered. Two late red cards, an appalling referee and the floodlights taking full effect. It was the perfect recipe for a big bowl of Goodison fury.
The game finished as an unmemorable 1-1 draw, but the sheer delight of the man in the neighbouring seat long stayed with me. His excitement was a reminder to relish those rare occasions when the entire audience at this glorious theatre of football are united in emotion.
And nowhere does emotion quite like Goodison Park.
Read more: Goodison Park stages final Premier League match
What is Man City’s form?
Man City’s laboured display in drawing a blank at bottom-of-the-table Southampton last weekend gives Palace even more reason to believe they can lift the cup.
However, Guardiola’s men are unbeaten in 10 games, including a 5-2 demolition of Palace in the Premier League last month despite falling 2-0 behind.
What is Crystal Palace’s form?
Palace warmed up for the Wembley showpiece by cruising to a 2-0 win at Tottenham last weekend to equal their record of 49 Premier League points with two games of the season to spare.
The south London club finished in the top 10 for the first time in the Premier League era last season after just a few months under Oliver Glasner.
Another top-half finish looks unlikely, but progress has continued under the Austrian, thanks to their FA Cup heroics.
Why is the FA Cup so important to both finalists?
History beckons for Crystal Palace against a Manchester City side that have one final shot at avoiding a rare trophyless season under Pep Guardiola.
Twice FA Cup runners-up, Palace have never won a major trophy in their 119-year history.
The Eagles sense this may finally be their time up against a City side far from their former glories of Guardiola’s trophy-laden reign.
Victory would also secure entry to one of Europe’s major club competitions for the first time in Palace’s history, with a place in the Europa League at stake.
The famous old cup
Manchester City and Crystal Palace go head-to-head for the FA Cup in a final that has captured the imagination of the world over since its inception in 1871.
English football’s showpiece cup final has been a tale of a team from any level – even non-professional – rising to the top to take down the giants of the game.
The Eagles of South London are no minnows in this particular story, but their opponents are as big as they come in the global game.
For very different reasons, victory in this competition will mean an awful lot to the clubs, who have had contrasting seasons in the English top flight.
We’ll take you through the history of the competition, analyses, and news from both camps ahead of the match.
Welcome to our live coverage
Hello, welcome, and thanks for joining our live coverage of the final of the world’s most famous football competition.
Manchester City and Crystal Palace will compete for the FA Cup – a competition that has long captured the imagination of a global audience.
It’s City’s last hope of silverware this season, while the Eagles will hope to lift the cup for the first time.
I’m Kevin Hand, and I’ll bring you the live build-up as well as the photo coverage of the day.
Manasi Pathak will bring you the team news and our comprehensive text commentary stream.