The first 70 or so minutes of the FA Cup Final wasn’t the greatest but it was somewhat entertaining. Then almost instantaneously, things spiked as the final 20 minutes of regular time and 30 minutes of extra time really opened up resulting in a Manchester United 2-1 win in extra time to take the 135th FA Cup, their 12th title and tied with Arsenal for most. Crystal Palace remains winless in the FA Cup Final.
The first bit of controversy happened when Connor Wickham went in to score but referee Mark Clattenberg blew the whistle for a foul instead of signaling advantage and letting play continue. I get why fans would be mad but there’s no way to determine a goal would be scored. Once the whistle blew, the United players stopped so there’s no guarantee Wickham would score if advantage was played. The call is debatable.
Hmmm. Was Mark Clattenburg too quick to his whistle to deny Crystal Palace's Connor Wickham? #FACupFinal https://t.co/6h4cJxbxLK
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) May 21, 2016
After a few close calls where Clattenberg played advantage, Crystal Palace got back into it. Jason Puncheon did a masterful job to stay onside and score the leading goal from a tough angle. Then Palace manager Alan Pardew did some sort of creepy but strangely brilliant dance that he would surely regret in just a couple minutes.
Jason Puncheon gave Crystal Palace a brief lead with a wonderful finish at the near post. #FACupFinal https://t.co/s9bWg26F37
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) May 21, 2016
In just a minute and a half, Manchester United came back and equalized. Juan Mata’s left footed shot took the game to 1-1 and we had the makings of a classic.
A brilliant run from Rooney. The chest down from Fellaini. And the finish from Mata. 1-1! #FACupFinal https://t.co/eAsYcknAC6
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) May 21, 2016
Going into extra time, we saw another twist as Chris Smalling received his second yellow to put Manchester United down to 10 men for the final 15 minutes.
But just when it looked like Crystal Palace would go on for the upset win, Manchester United got it back and with just 10 minutes to go, Jesse Lingard volleyed a tremendous goal to seal the win and the FA Cup for Manchester United.
In the end, Manchester United got to celebrate with another FA Cup. While it was tough to see amid the confetti, the lid of the trophy apparently fell off when it was lifted and fell below into the crowd. One, hopefully no one gets hit by the point of the lid because that can be pretty sharp and two, hopefully it gets returned to the team.
MANCHESTER UNITED LIFT THE FA CUP! #MUFC #FACupFinal pic.twitter.com/2spwtEdsIz
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) May 21, 2016
Even though Manchester United won their first major trophy in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, talk will now center on whether or not this was enough for Louis van Gaal to keep his job or if he will still be sacked in favor of Jose Mourinho. Even though United deserve the celebrate, that will probably dominate the headlines in the coming days.
