U.S. men's national team defender Chris Richards played a major role Saturday as Crystal Palace won the FA Cup for the first time in 119 years of trying.
Palace emerged as 1-0 winners over Manchester City at Wembley, with Eberechi Eze's 16th-minute goal enough for the London-based club to claim a top-level honor for the first time in its entire history. Richards was part of a resilient defensive effort for Palace, who still needed goalkeeper Dean Henderson to emerge as the game's most important figure.
The trophy lift was Palace's first of any kind since the club won the 1993-94 Division One title, an achievement that pre-dates that division's change in name to the EFL Championship. Richards and Matt Turner, who was an unused substitute, became the third and fourth American men to win the FA Cup, joining Tim Howard (2003 and 2004) and Julian Sturgis (1873).
Man City held control of possession to an almost impossible degree, coming in at halftime with an 81% share. Despite that — or perhaps, because of it — the first Palace attack of any kind ended up being the most important.
After unrelenting early pressure in front of its own goal that included a sterling Henderson stop on Erling Haaland, Palace sensed an opening after Richards' 16th-minute clearance from the endline found Jean-Philippe Mateta at midfield. The target man worked one combination to progress play before spraying the ball wide for Daniel Muñoz, whose raking low cross was eventually fired home by Eze.
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From there, Henderson took center stage. First, Henderson appeared to handle the ball just outside the Palace box in the 26th minute, tipping the ball away from a lurking Erling Haaland. VAR examined the play as a possible denial of a goal-scoring opportunity, but Henderson was allowed to remain in the game.
The game moved onto another moment of controversy, with Man City awarded a dubious penalty kick. Bernardo Silva appeared to fall into Tyrick Mitchell more than anything else, but whatever outrage Palace had, all was forgotten when Henderson sprung to his right to deny Omar Marmoush's 36th-minute penalty.
Henderson denied Jérémy Doku in the 42nd with another strong stop as Palace held off the siege in front of its own goal. At the other end, the underdogs briefly thought Muñoz had padded the lead in the 58th minute, but a deflection off of Ismaïla Sarr (who was in an offside position) saw VAR end those celebrations.
Henderson — who spent the second half in a navy blue baseball cap in the late-day sun at Wembley — kept delivering the goods, most notably producing an instinctive block to deny substitute Claudio Echeverri an 82nd-minute equalizer.
Palace survived the onslaught, even as Man City finished with 79% possession and nearly 700 passes, setting off pure jubilation in the red-and-blue half of the stadium. After two FA Cup final losses, Palace claimed the winners' medals, as well as a place in next year's Europa League.
For Richards, it was a particularly impressive performance. The USMNT center back blocked four Man City shots, double the total of any other player, and made 12 clearances under intense pressure. Per Sofascore, Richards won four of five headers and lost possession just seven times in a strong 90-minute showing.
While Turner was a bystander, he did end up making one critical late save, intervening to defuse a brewing post-game argument between Henderson and Man City manager Pep Guardiola.
Crystal Palace's US defender #26 Chris Richards (L) and Crystal Palace's US goalkeeper #30 Matt Turner (R) celebrate on the final whistle in the English FA Cup final football match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Wembley.