Oliver Glasner's Crystal Palace were victorious over Premier League winners Liverpool on penalties after a breathless and frantic 90 minutes finished 2-2.
Liverpool had taken an early lead after Hugo Ekitike's early strike but Palace struck back quickly after a Jean Phillipe Mateta penalty after Ismaila Sarr was fouled. The Reds retook the lead in fortunate circumstances when Jeremie Frimpong's somehow ended up looping into the Palace net. The Eagles never gave up and secured their second equaliser through Sarr after brilliant work from Adam Wharton in the build-up.
The Eagles would then hold their nerve in the shoot-out. Here are four things we learned from Sunday afternoon:
Palace keeper Dean Henderson is quickly becoming a club legend in SE25 with another brilliant Wembley outing, saving two penalties to help the Eagles get their hands on silverware. The doff of his cap after saving Alexis Macallister will live long in the memory of Palace fans.
The former Manchester United man, would have been disappointed with some of his distribution in the 90 minutes, but claim in clutch when Palace needed him most cementing himself in the hearts of his adoring fans of the South London club. He will be hoping for another stellar season and will be hoping to pushing Jordan Pickford for the England jersey ahead of the World Cup next summer.
Devenny Steps Up
When 21 year old Justin Devenny stepped forward to take the fifth penalty in the shoot-out, a number of Palace fans would have been forgiven for thinking that the occasion could be to big for the Northern Irishman. However, he took it superbly lacing the ball into the top left hand corner creating bedlam in the Palace end.
The versatile midfielder is clearly trusted by Glasner as his multiple appearances off the bench last season showed being put into big game situations over other senior players in the squad. With a potential Conference League run on the cards and the Eagles paper thin squad Devenny will be key to any success Palace have this season.
Mateta the Monster
The talismanic striker was tasked with leading the line and taking on Virgil van Dijk and he was impressive. The striker had an understandably slow start to last season with the Olympics taking up meaning the Frenchman never got a proper rest.
With a proper pre-season the attacker looked sharp and on it from the first kick of the game and took both of his penalties incredibly well while also being a constant thorn in the Premier League champions side. Mateta will be key for Palace with his current back up being Odsonne Edouard who couldn’t even make the squad for relegated Leicester last season and with Eddie Nketiah out for eight weeks with a hamstring injury.
Guehi shows his worth
Marc Guehi has been constantly linked with moves away from Selhurst Park over the summer, with his contract expiring at the end of the season, there is a high chance that the 25 year old is not at the club come the end of the window. The centre-half showed why he is considered one of the best defenders in the Premier League with a towering performance and showing an impressive range of passes.
The former Chelsea academy player was composed even when Palace faced high pressure from Liverpool’s star studded front line, Guehi led his backline in an exemplary way showing exceptional leadership. He will be greatly missed at Palace when he does leave although the Eagles will be hoping that they can get him to sign a one year extension ahead of the World Cup.