FA Cup finalists Palace rewarded for keeping faith with Glasner
When Crystal Palace stumbled out of the gates this season, going winless in their first eight Premier League matches, the pressure on manager Oliver Glasner could have crushed lesser men.
In a league where owners often reach for the panic button at the first whiff of trouble, Glasner’s future looked uncertain. But chairman Steve Parish saw the bigger picture — and his patience now looks like a stroke of genius.
Fast forward to Saturday at Wembley: Palace dismantled Aston Villa 3-0 to punch their ticket to the FA Cup final — just the third in the club’s long 119-year history. A first-ever major trophy now feels closer than ever.
“I never had any doubt,” Parish told the BBC, beaming with pride after the final whistle. “Watching Oliver work, the positivity he brings, the belief he instills — it’s infectious.”
The Eagles’ high-flying performance was sparked by a screamer from Eberechi Eze, followed by a dazzling double from Ismaila Sarr, sending the Palace faithful into absolute ecstasy.
A Rocky Start That Defied Logic
Palace’s sluggish start to the season caught many by surprise. After finishing the previous campaign on a high — winning six of their last seven games, including a 5-0 thrashing of Villa — expectations were sky-high.
Losing star winger Michael Olise to Bayern Munich and defensive lynchpin Joachim Andersen to Fulham in the summer hurt, no doubt. But with talents like Eze, Sarr, Jean-Philippe Mateta, and England international Marc Guehi still in the squad, few expected such a nosedive.
Five goals in eight games was a grim return, and by late November, Palace were languishing in the relegation zone. Glasner, the man who once led Eintracht Frankfurt to a Europa League title, suddenly looked under siege.
A gritty 1-0 win over Tottenham in October offered a glimpse of hope, but consistency remained elusive. Not until their 14th league match did Palace finally notch a second win, dragging themselves out of the danger zone.
Since then? They’ve looked like a completely different beast.
Wembley Glory Within Reach
Momentum gradually swung back in Palace’s favour, and for a time, they even flirted with an unlikely European spot before a minor stumble cooled those ambitions.
Now, with a place in the FA Cup final secured, Glasner — at 50 years old and the first Austrian ever to manage a team to this stage — has the chance to etch his name into Palace folklore.
“The most important thing is everyone stayed calm — the players, the club, everyone,” Glasner said after the semi-final win. “The togetherness in this team is something special. We always believed.”
On Saturday, Wembley was a wall of red and blue, as Palace fans sang and danced their way into the evening, daring to dream of something they’ve never had before: a major trophy.
With Glasner at the wheel, that dream might just become reality.