DEAN Henderson dedicated Crystal Palace’s FA Cup victory to his dad after his extraordinary performance in the 1-0 win over Manchester City at Wembley that secured the Eagles’ first-ever major trophy.
Henderson saved Omar Marmoush’s penalty after 36 minutes, 20 minutes after Eberechi Eze’s goal.
City were furious that Henderson was still on the pitch after he handled outside the area as Erling Haaland attempted to get through. The VAR judged Haaland was moving away from goal, sparing Henderson.
Henderson denied Haaland, Josko Gvardiol, Jeremy Doku and Claudio Echeverri as Oliver Glasner’s side won with just 22 per cent possession.
“I lost my dad at the start of the season,” Henderson said. “But he was with me today. He was with me in every kick of the game.
“I dedicate that win to him.
“We were incredible today. We had a feeling it would be our day. The manager got a game plan and we executed it. We deserve this so much.”
Henderson added: “To be fair, Haaland might have stepped up. He gave it to Marmoush and I knew which way he was going. I knew I would save it.”
Henderson appeared to exchange words with angry City boss Pep Guardiola after full-time.
Henderson told the media: “The ball carried into my penalty box and I knew it was fine – who cares?”
In his post-match press conference, Glasner described how big the achievement was for the club.
“This connection stays forever, the connection with the players and with Crystal Palace,” Glasner said.
“I’m pretty sure if, I don’t know, Jean-Philippe Mateta will watch a game at Selhurst Park in 30 years’ time, and the fans will celebrate him and he deserves it, and it will be the same with all the other players.
“It’s massive what everyone did for the club, and this is the special motivation. We wanted to write history – and I think now we wrote a really big chapter in club history.
“It was the Crystal Palace day. It was the day for our fans, and it just had to happen that we’d win.
“Credit to the players how hard they worked today to get this clean sheet – a great goalkeeper, a great mentality, and a fantastic win.
“The biggest success we could have was to give tens of thousands of our fans, of South London, a moment for their lifetimes. We can give them great times. We give them hours and days where they just feel happy and are celebrating.
“I think this is the biggest achievement that sportsmen can do, and we did it for the fans, we did it for many, many people, and that’s why I think everybody who contributed to this success deserves to be proud of the group and of the whole club, because it’s the best thing you can do.”
Meanwhile, Palace defender Maxence Lacroix could barely contain his excitement at the prospect of Europe next season.
He said: “It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful. I think we made ourselves legend and we’ll be going to go to the Europa League with them
“It’s going to be fire at home. Europe next year – yes sir!”
