View attachment 457522Saturday 9th May 2015
Chelsea 1-2 Crystal Palace
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Crystal Palace have won the 2015 Budweiser FA Cup after beating league champions Chelsea in the final. A capacity 90,000 attendance viewed the game as the underdogs, in the Sky Bet Championship just 2 seasons ago, outplayed favourites Chelsea in an enthralling game with goals from Alex Pearce and Yannick Bolasie for the Eagles whilst Fernando Torres scored for the Blues.
Scott Parker's team took the lead in just the 4th minute. Jesse Lingard, signed in January from Manchester United, beat three men before he was challenged inside the box and the ball rolled out for a Crystal Palace corner. The young winger swung the cross in with centre-back Alex Pearce getting across the front of his man to power the ball home and give his side the lead. On the stroke of half-time, Chelsea equalised. I swift counter attack, led by none other than Eden Hazard, saw Koke shoot from outside the box. Australian goalkeeper Matthew Ryan got a fist to it but former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres tapped home to make the score 1-1. In the 79th minute, the Eagles earned a corner. Lingard knocked the ball in deep and it was headed away - Yannick Bolasie played the ball to Mile Jedinak inside the area who was brought down by Cesar Azpilicueta. Bolasie stepped up and slotted the ball under Courtois' arm who had guessed the right way to give Palace a 2-1 lead. The final whistle ten minutes later sparked scenes of jubilation amongst the Palace fans as they celebrated their first ever Budweiser FA Cup victory.
After the trophy presentation, Crystal Palace manager Scott Parker was interviewed whilst Mourinho refused to comment. Parker said: "The lads put in an absolutely fantastic performance today. We matched Chelsea from beginning to end and that's not something many teams have managed to do this season. It was an exciting, end-to-end game with lots of action. I'm a little disappointed the result was decided through a penalty as I don't feel a penalty does the game justice but the Chelsea defender can't afford to take down my player in that manner. The tackle from behind is bad enough but he also gives Mile an elbow so the penalty was fully deserved. That shouldn't be the focus of today for us, though. I'm usually the type of gaffer to have them back in first thing the next day after any victory but I think I'll let the lads have this one off because they thoroughly impressed me today. I'm very glad for the players but I must give a huge thank you to the fans who were massive for us today - they deserved the victory more than the players."
Chelsea Starting Eleven
Thibaut Courtois, Cesar Azpilicueta, Nicolas Otamendi, Inigo Martinez, Cristian Cuevas, John Obi Mikel, Nathaniel Chalobah, Oscar, Koke, Eden Hazard, Fernando Torres
Chelsea Substitutes
Petr Cech, David Luiz, Charly Musonda, Samuel Eto'o, Kenneth Omeruo, Victor Moses, Kevin Mirallas
Crystal Palace Starting Eleven
Matthew Ryan, Jack Hunt, Marquinhos, Alex Pearce, Ricardo Rodriguez, Mile Jedinak, Oliver Norwood, Yannick Bolasie, Jesse Lingard, Marouane Chamakh, Dwight Gayle
Crystal Palace Substitutes
Julian Speroni, Ryan Shotton, Marc Crosas, Jonathan Parr, Adrian Mariappa, Gary Mackay-Steven, Andi Weimann