2017 FA Cup Final

The 2017 FA Cup Final was the 136th final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest football cup competition. The match was contested between Crystal Palace and Manchester United in a repeat of the 1990 FA Cup Final in which Man Utd won the replay 2–1 after a 0–0 draw. It was refereed by Anthony Taylor from Cheshire. Manchester United went into the final with a record of 12 wins from 18 FA Cup finals the most out of any other club in FA Cup history. United was last in the final against Manchester rivals Manchester City in the 2013 final in which United won, which was Sir Alex Ferguson's last managerial game. Crystal Palace's only previous FA Cup final was the aforementioned 1990 final

Manchester United won the match 4–3 in a thrilling pulsating game. Winners Manchester United qualified for the 2017 FA Community Shield and the 2017–18 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. This was the most recent FA Cup triumph for United. It was also manager Laurent Blanc's only trophy for United before he was sacked in 2018.

The match was broadcast live in the UK by both BBC and BT Sport. BBC provided the free-to-air coverage and BT Sport 1 was the pay-TV alternative.

## **Route to the final**

### **Crystal Palace**

As a Premier League team, Crystal Palace started in the 3rd round. They were drawn away to Bolton Wanderers. At the Macron Stadium Crystal Palace won 2–1 with 2 goals from Christian Benteke.

In the 4th round they were drawn Manchester City at home and defeated them 3–1 at Crystal Palace Park in a surprise result, goals coming from Lee, Andros Townsend and Mathieu Flamini.

In the 5th round they were drawn at home against Championship side Huddersfield Town, beating them 2–0 with goals from Fraizer Campbell and Wilfried Zaha.

In the quarterfinals they were drawn away to Championship outfit Middlesbrough, beating them 2–0 again gaols coming from Bakary Sako and Benteke

In the semifinals they played fellow London side Woolwich Arsenal at Old Trafford in Manchester (due to Man Utd participating in semis and to maintain neutrality have to go to Birmingham) beating them 2–1 in another surprise result with goals from Scott Dann and Yohan Cabaye to send Palace to only their 2nd final.

### **Manchester United**

As a Premier League team, Manchester United started in the 3rd round. They were drawn at home to Championship side Reading, Man Utd comfortably dispatched Reading 4–0 with goals from captain Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial and 2 from Marcus Rashford.

In the 4th round they were drawn at home against local rivals Wigan Athletic in the Championship, who they also comfortably dispatched 4–0 with goals from Fellaini, Chris Smalling, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Bastian Schweinsteiger

In the 5th round they stay in the county of Lancashire once again drawing away to Championship side Blackburn Rovers, this time it was not so easy but still managed to win 2–1 with goals from Rashford and Zlatan Ibrahimović

In the quarterfinals they were drawn away to Premier League rivals Chelsea, beating them 2–0 at Stamford Bridge with goals from Paul Pogba and Andre Herrera

In the semifinals they played last years runner-up Tottenham Hotspur at Villa Park in Birmingham due to them being unable to play in Old Trafford as it is there home and to maintain neutrality. In a thrilling match United beat Spurs 4–2 with goals from Rashford, 2 from Ibrahimović and Wayne Rooney.

## **Match**

### **Summary**

Despite Manchester United dominated possession Crystal Palace surprisingly took the lead, Yohan Cabaye provided the through ball for Connor Wickham to chase, and he calmly angled the ball past the onrushing David de Gea to open the scoring in the 4th minute. Zlatan Ibrahimović equalized for Man Utd scoring in the 18th minute, with a free kick to the left of Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennesey awarded following a foul by Mathieu Flamini on Paul Pogba. Jesse Lingard doubled the lead in the 35th minute with a low right foot shot to the right corner of the net from just inside the penalty area this was final action of the 1st half because the ref immediately blew his whistle afterwards. Juan Mata made it 3–1 in the 52nd minute, scoring from 10 metres out with a fired low into the corner following a cross from Wayne Rooney on the right. Crystal Palace would peg Man Utd back with a goal in the 59th minute from Puncheon before Connor Wickham scored his second with a close range header after a cross from Wilfried Zaha to equalize with 3 minutes remaining to send the game into extra-time. Ibrahimović scored the winner with a right foot volley from inside the penalty area which flew past Wayne Hennessey before he could move in the 10th minute of extra time to hand United their record 13th FA Cup victory