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The 2016 FA Cup Final was an
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
match between
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
and
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
on 21 May 2016 at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, England, organised by
the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
(FA). It marked the 135th final of the Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) and was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition. It was Manchester United's first FA Cup final appearance since
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...
, when they lost 1–0 to
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
. Crystal Palace were playing their second FA Cup final, the previous occasion being in 1990, when they lost to Manchester United after a replay following a 3–3 draw in the first match.
Mark Clattenburg Mark Clattenburg (born 13 March 1975) is an English professional football referee. Clattenburg is a former member of the Premier League and the Durham County Football Association and also a former FIFA referee. He has refereed a number of nota ...
, from
Consett Consett is a town in County Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019. History Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. Its' name originates in the ...
,
County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...
, was the
referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...
for the match, which was played in front of 88,619 spectators. The first half was goalless although Clattenburg was the subject of some controversy when he awarded Crystal Palace a
free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...
instead of playing advantage after Manchester United's
Chris Smalling Christopher Lloyd Smalling (born 22 November 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Roma. Smalling represented the England national team from 2011 to 2017. During his youth, Smalling played f ...
was adjudged to have fouled
Connor Wickham Connor Neil Ralph Wickham (born 31 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as forward. He is currently a free agent. He has previously represented Ipswich Town, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United, Crystal Palace ...
. After coming on as a second-half substitute,
Jason Puncheon Jason David Ian Puncheon (born 18 June 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cypriot First Division club Anorthosis Famagusta . Following his goal against Everton on his Blackpool debut, he has scored in a ...
gave Crystal Palace the lead when he scored from close range past
David de Gea David de Gea Quintana (born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester United. During the mid-2010s, he was widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Born in Madrid ...
in the Manchester United goal. The lead lasted three minutes before Juan Mata's deflected volley beat
Wayne Hennessey Wayne Robert Hennessey (born 24 January 1987) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and the Wales national team. Hennessey's first professional games saw him set a new Football ...
, the Crystal Palace goalkeeper. Regular time ended with a scoreline of 1–1, sending the final into
extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...
. Just before the interval in the additional period, Smalling was
sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...
after receiving a second
yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...
, becoming the fourth player to be dismissed in an FA Cup final. Jesse Lingard, who had been brought on to replace Mata close to the end of regular time, then shot from distance, sending the ball into the top corner of the Crystal Palace goal to give Manchester United a 2–1 victory, and their twelfth FA Cup. Manchester United's
Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...
was named as man of the match. The victory was
Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spe ...
's only trophy as Manchester United's
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...
and he was sacked two days after the final, to be replaced by
José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the Britis ...
. By winning the final, Manchester United qualified for both the 2016 FA Community Shield and the group stage of the
2016–17 UEFA Europa League The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2017 UEFA Eu ...
.


Background

The
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...
is an annual
knockout tournament A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
involving professional and amateur men's
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
clubs in the
English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...
. It is the world's oldest football cup competition. The 2016 final was the 135th final to be played since it was first held in 1872. In the two league matches between the sides during the regular season, the fixture at
Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international fo ...
in London in October 2015 ended in a goalless draw while the game at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...
the following April ended in a 2–0 victory to Manchester United. Crystal Palace's top scorer during the regular season was
Dwight Gayle Dwight Devon Boyd Gayle (born 17 October 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Stoke City. Gayle played in the Arsenal academy as a youth, but was released in 2007, after which he began hi ...
who had scored 7 goals in 11 appearances in all competitions, while three players –
Yannick Bolasie Yannick Bolasie (born 24 May 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for TFF First League club Çaykur Rizespor. He has played in the Football League for Plymouth Argyle, Barnet, Bristol City, Crystal Palace, Everton and A ...
,
Yohan Cabaye Yohan Cabaye (; born 14 January 1986) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Cabaye began his football career playing for hometown club US Tourcoing at the age of six. After seven years developing in the club's ...
and
Connor Wickham Connor Neil Ralph Wickham (born 31 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as forward. He is currently a free agent. He has previously represented Ipswich Town, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United, Crystal Palace ...
– had 6 each.
Anthony Martial Anthony Jordan Martial (; born 5 December 1995) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Manchester United and the France national team. After playing youth football for Les Ulis, Martial began his ...
was Manchester United's leading scorer, with 17 goals, including 2 in the FA Cup, followed by
Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...
on 15 (also 2 in the FA Cup). Manchester United went into the final with a record of 11 wins from 18 FA Cup finals, one behind
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...
in both FA Cup wins and FA Cup Final appearances. United last played a final in 2007, the first at the new Wembley, where they lost 1–0 after extra time to
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
. Their last title victory was in 2004, a 3–0 win against
Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...
at
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...
's
Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national r ...
. Crystal Palace's only previous FA Cup final was the 1990 final, which they lost to Manchester United after a replay when the first match had ended in a 3–3 draw.


Route to the final


Crystal Palace

As a
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
team, Crystal Palace started their campaign in the third round. There, they were drawn against fellow Premier League team
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
away at
St Mary's Stadium St Mary's Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Southampton, England, which has been the home stadium of Premier League club Southampton F.C. since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,384 and is currently the largest football stadium ...
on 9 January 2016. Crystal Palace took the lead when Joel Ward scored in the 29th minute from a
Jason Puncheon Jason David Ian Puncheon (born 18 June 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cypriot First Division club Anorthosis Famagusta . Following his goal against Everton on his Blackpool debut, he has scored in a ...
pass. Six minutes after half time,
Oriol Romeu Oriol Romeu Vidal (; born 24 September 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for La Liga side Girona. Romeu began his career at Barcelona, playing mainly in their reserves. In 2011, he joined Chelsea f ...
equalised for Southampton following
Cuco Martina Rhu-endly Aurelio Jean-Carlo Martina (born 25 September 1989), known as Cuco Martina, is a professional footballer who plays for the Curaçao national team. He plays primarily as a right-back, but can also play as a centre-back or defensive midf ...
's saved shot. Midway through the second half,
Wilfried Zaha Dazet Wilfried Armel Zaha (born 10 November 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Crystal Palace and the Ivory Coast national team. Zaha advanced into the Crystal Palace first team from their academy, in 2010. In ...
restored Crystal Palace's lead, scoring with a volley after the Southampton goalkeeper
Maarten Stekelenburg Maarten Stekelenburg (; born 22 September 1982) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eredivisie club Ajax. Stekelenburg began his career at Ajax, playing 282 matches over nine seasons in his first spell there and win ...
had kept out Puncheon's shot. No further goals were scored and the match ended 2–1 to Crystal Palace. In the fourth round, Crystal Palace hosted another top-flight team in
Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
at Selhurst Park on 30 January. Zaha scored in the first half after beating the Stoke City defence, striking the ball past
Jakob Haugaard Jakob Let Haugaard (born 1 May 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Tromsø. Haugaard began his career with Akademisk BK before moving to Danish Superliga side Midtjylland in December 2011. He was used as back ...
for the only goal of the game. The visiting side had made eight changes to their team from their previous league match, prompting their manager
Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City. During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, an ...
to say "We were a little bit stretched, we had a number of players unavailable." In the fifth round, Crystal Palace were drawn against their third consecutive Premier League opposition, meeting
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
on 21 February away at
White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...
. Although Tottenham Hotspur had a number of chances to score, including two shots from
Harry Kane Harry Edward Kane (born 28 July 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the England national team. A prolific goalscorer with strong link play, Kane is regarded as one of ...
which were saved by
Wayne Hennessey Wayne Robert Hennessey (born 24 January 1987) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and the Wales national team. Hennessey's first professional games saw him set a new Football ...
and
Dele Alli Bamidele Jermaine Alli ( ; born 11 April 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Beşiktaş, on loan from Premier League club Everton. Born and raised in Milton Keynes, he joined the youth s ...
striking both goalposts with a shot, Crystal Palace secured a 1–0 victory. Martin Kelly scored his first goal since 2011 in first-half
stoppage time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...
from close range after receiving the ball from Zaha. The win meant Crystal Palace advanced to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since the 1994–95 competition. There, they had their first game against a lower-division team, facing
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
side
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...
at the
Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a Association football, football stadium in Reading, Berkshire, Reading. It is the home of Reading F.C., Reading Football Club, who play in the E ...
on 11 March. Although Crystal Palace dominated possession, the first half ended goalless. With five minutes of the game remaining, Reading defender Jake Cooper was
sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...
after receiving a second
yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...
, fouling Bolasie and conceding a
penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penal ...
which was scored by Cabaye. Fraizer Campbell secured the win with a goal from close range four minutes into stoppage time. Crystal Palace won 2–0 and progressed to the semi-final for the first time in 21 years. On 24 April, Crystal Palace faced
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
, a neutral venue, in a repeat of the 2013 Football League Championship play-off Final. Bolasie gave Crystal Palace an early lead when he headed the ball into the Watford goal after Damien Delaney flicked on a
corner Corner may refer to: People *Corner (surname) * House of Cornaro, a noble Venetian family (''Corner'' in Venetian dialect) Places *Corner, Alabama, a community in the United States *Corner Inlet, Victoria, Australia *Corner River, a tributary of ...
from Cabaye. Watford's Étienne Capoue was stretchered off the pitch in the 30th minute following a tangle with Bolasie. Ten minutes into the second half,
Troy Deeney Troy Matthew Deeney (born 29 June 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains club Birmingham City. Deeney started his professional career at Walsall. He spent a brief spell on loan with Southern Leag ...
equalised for Watford when he scored with a header from José Manuel Jurado's corner. Six minutes later, Crystal Palace retook the lead when Wickham converted
Pape Souaré Pape N'Diaye Souaré (; born 6 June 1990) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a left back for Morecambe. Club career Born in Mbao, Pikine Department, Souaré spent his early career with Diambars, Lille II, Lille and Reims. He ...
's cross to make it 2–1 which remained the final score.


Manchester United

As a Premier League team, Manchester United also entered 2015–16 FA Cup in the third round, hosting
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
of
League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
at Old Trafford on 9 January 2016. Substitute
Memphis Depay Memphis Depay (; born 13 February 1994), also known simply as Memphis, is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Barcelona and the Netherlands national team. Memphis began his professional career with PSV Ein ...
was fouled in second-half stoppage time by Dean Hammond for a penalty kick, from which Rooney scored the only goal of the match. Manager
Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spe ...
was under pressure for Manchester United's poor form prior to the match. In the fourth round, Manchester United travelled to
Pride Park Pride Park is a business park on the outskirts of the city centre of Derby, England. Developed in the 1990s, It covers 80 hectares of former industrial land between the River Derwent and railway lines. Pride Park Stadium and Derby Arena are bot ...
to play
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...
who were in a play-off place in the Championship. Rooney scored the first goal in the 16th minute from outside the
penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. With ...
, but George Thorne equalised eight minutes before half time. Midway though the second half,
Daley Blind Daley Blind (; born 9 March 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder, left-back or centre-back for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Netherlands national team. He is the son of former Ajax defender and fo ...
restored Manchester United's lead, scoring with a low strike from Jesse Lingard's cross. Juan Mata's 83rd-minute goal after a run from Martial secured a 3–1 victory for Manchester United and relieved Van Gaal of further pressure; it was the first time in 15 games that the team won by a margin of more than one goal. On 22 February, Manchester United played the fifth round against
Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...
, who were in 21st position in League One, away at New Meadow.
Chris Smalling Christopher Lloyd Smalling (born 22 November 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Roma. Smalling represented the England national team from 2011 to 2017. During his youth, Smalling played f ...
opened the scoring for Manchester United with his first goal in the FA Cup eight minutes before half-time. Mata doubled their advantage in first-half stoppage time with a direct
free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...
before Lingard confirmed a 3–0 win just after the hour mark, converting
Ander Herrera Ander Herrera Agüera (; born 14 August 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Athletic Bilbao, on loan from Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. He began his career at Real Zaragoza, before moving ...
's pass. Manchester United were forced to play with only ten players for the final fourteen minutes of the match after Will Keane came off injured and no substitutes remained. Manchester United hosted their sixth-round match against top-flight opponents
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
on 13 March. The visitors took the lead midway through the second half after
Dimitri Payet Dimitri Payet (; born 29 March 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Marseille. A set-piece specialist, known for his accurate, bending free kicks, he primarily plays as an attacking midfielder, and is described a ...
's free kick beat
David de Gea David de Gea Quintana (born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester United. During the mid-2010s, he was widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Born in Madrid ...
in the Manchester United goal. With seven minutes remaining, the hosts equalised when Martial scored from a cross from Herrera, ending the match 1–1. Due to the draw, a replay was required. This took place the following month at the
Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
, the final FA Cup match at the ground. After a goalless first half,
Marcus Rashford Marcus Rashford (born 31 October 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Manchester United and the England national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his explosive ath ...
gave Manchester United the lead in the 54th minute when he curled a shot past Darren Randolph, the West Ham United goalkeeper, into the top corner of the net. Marouane Fellaini made it 2–0 midway through the second half, scoring from Martial's cross. West Ham halved the deficit in the 79th minute when James Tomkins scored with a header. Although West Ham dominated the closing stages, including having a goal by
Cheikhou Kouyaté Cheikhou Kouyaté (born 21 December 1989) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder or centre-back for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and the Senegal national team. Kouyaté moved from Senegal to Belgium i ...
disallowed, the match ended 2–1 to Manchester United. On 23 April, Manchester United faced Everton at Wembley, a neutral venue, in the semi-finals. Fellaini gave Manchester United the lead in the 34th minute when he scored from close range against his former team. After the interval,
Timothy Fosu-Mensah Evans Timothy Fosu Fosu-Mensah (born 2 January 1998) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder, centre-back or full-back for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Netherlands national team. He formerly played fo ...
fouled Everton's
Ross Barkley Ross Barkley (born 5 December 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nice. Barkley began his professional career at Everton in 2010. After loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United he ...
, but de Gea saved
Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Inter Milan, on loan from club Chelsea, and the Belgium national team. Lukaku began his senior club career playing for Ander ...
's subsequent penalty kick. With 15 minutes to go, Everton substitute
Gerard Deulofeu Gerard Deulofeu Lázaro (; born 13 March 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Serie A club Udinese. Mainly a forward, he can also play as a winger on both flanks. He started his career with Barcelona, first appearing with ...
sent in a cross which was deflected into Manchester United's goal off Smalling for an
own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...
which levelled the score. Three minutes into stoppage time, Herrera set up Martial who struck the ball past the Everton goalkeeper
Joel Robles Joel Robles Blázquez (; born 17 June 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Leeds United. Robles started his professional career at Atlético Madrid, initially in the C team in 2008, befor ...
to secure a 2–1 win for Manchester United and progression to a record-breaking 19th FA Cup final. A bomb scare at Old Trafford on the final day of the Premier League meant that Manchester United's final league game, against
Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...
, was postponed and rearranged for 17 May. This left Manchester United with four days to prepare for the final, two days fewer than Crystal Palace.


Match


Pre-match

The
referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...
for the final was
Mark Clattenburg Mark Clattenburg (born 13 March 1975) is an English professional football referee. Clattenburg is a former member of the Premier League and the Durham County Football Association and also a former FIFA referee. He has refereed a number of nota ...
from
Consett Consett is a town in County Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019. History Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. Its' name originates in the ...
,
County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...
, who was assisted by John Brooks and Andrew Halliday. The fourth official was
Neil Swarbrick Neil Swarbrick (born 20 December 1965) is an English retired football referee who officiated primarily in the Premier League having been promoted to the Select Group of Referees in 2011. He is based in Preston, Lancashire, and is a member of ...
while Michael Salisbury acted as the reserve assistant referee. The match was broadcast live in the United Kingdom by both the BBC, providing free-to-air coverage, and
BT Sport BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Bro ...
acting as the pay TV alternative. Each club received an allocation of 28,780 tickets. This was an increase on previous seasons from 71% of available seats for supporters of the two opposing teams to 80%. All ticket prices were also reduced by £5 each. An inaugural tournament was held on 7 May in which a fan of each of the 64 teams who reached the third round competed in a knock-out football video game tournament in rooms around Wembley Stadium. The prize was tickets to the actual final. The financial prize for winning the FA Cup Final was £1.8million while the runners-up would receive £900,000. Manchester United were considered clear favourites to win the final, both in the media and by bookmakers. Ahead of kick-off,
Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He has been signed to Parlophone Records since 2009, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his own entertainment compa ...
performed alongside The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Choir before the sides were presented to
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educ ...
. The
national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
was sung by Karen Harding. Van Gaal made two changes to his starting line-up from the side that competed in his side's previous match, the last league game against Bournemouth:
Marcos Rojo Faustino Marcos Alberto Rojo (born 20 March 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defender for Boca Juniors and the Argentina national team. Rojo began his career at local club Estudiantes de La Plata, where he won the C ...
and Fellaini came in for
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson Cameron Jake Borthwick-Jackson (born 2 February 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Scottish club Ross County, on loan from Śląsk Wrocław. Club career Manchester United Born in Manchester, Borthwick-Jac ...
and Lingard, the latter dropping to the substitutes' bench. Crystal Palace's manager
Alan Pardew Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is the current manager of Greek Super League club Aris. Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup Final ...
recalled six players to his starting eleven: Zaha, Hennessey,
Scott Dann Scott Dann (born 14 February 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre back for club Reading. He began his Football League career with Walsall, before moving on to Coventry City and then to Birmingham City in 2009. Aft ...
, Bolasie, Cabaye and Wickham returned while Puncheon and Gayle were listed as substitutes. Manchester United lined up in a 4–1–4–1 formation with
Michael Carrick Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently head coach of Middlesbrough. He is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time and is best known for his 12-year p ...
playing as a defensive midfielder and Rashford the sole striker. Their opposition adopted a 4–2–3–1 formation, with Wickham playing up front on his own.


Summary


First half

After a slight delay resulting from the overrunning pre-match entertainment, Crystal Palace kicked off around 5:30p.m. on 21 May 2016 in front of 88,619 spectators. In the third minute, Crystal Palace won the first corner of the match but Cabaye's
set piece In film production, a set piece is a scene or sequence of scenes whose execution requires complex logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term is often also used more broadly to describe a sequence in which the film-maker's ...
was easily caught by de Gea. Manchester United won their first corner four minutes later, and Mata's eventual cross was cleared by
Mile Jedinak Michael John "Mile" Jedinak (; ; born 3 August 1984) is an Australian former professional footballer who served as the captain of the Australia national team. He is currently the Loan Player Development Coach at Aston Villa. Jedinak was born a ...
ahead of Fellaini. This was followed by a series of corners for Manchester United, but none could be converted, culminating in Fellaini heading wide from Blind's pass in the tenth minute. Rooney then struck a shot from distance; the ball took a deflection off Dann but was gathered by Hennessey at the second attempt after he initially fumbled it. In the 17th minute, Crystal Palace counter-attacked and Wickham was brought down by Smalling – Wickham got up and ran on with the ball and scored past de Gea but Clattenburg had declined to play the advantage, disallowed the goal and showed Smalling the first yellow card of the game. De Gea was forced to tip the ball over the crossbar from the resulting free kick from Cabaye. In the 22nd minute, Mata received the ball from Fellaini and his low shot from the edge of the Crystal Palace penalty area was saved by Hennessey. Three minutes later, Fellaini's header took a deflection off Jedinak and passed just wide of the Crystal Palace goal. Bolasie's long-range shot was saved by de Gea before Wickham struck the ball wide of Manchester United's goal. Zaha then played in a cross which Wickham was unable to reach. With twelve minutes of the first half remaining, Rashford made a run down the right wing and crossed the ball to Martial whose first-time shot was cleared by a diving Ward. Within two minutes, Zaha won the ball from Blind but was tackled by Rooney, and Clattenburg denied Crystal Palace's appeal for a penalty. In the 38th minute, Carrick's shot from went high over the Crystal Palace bar and two minutes later, Rojo fouled Ward and became the second Manchester United player to be booked. Mata was then shown the yellow card for a high and late tackle on Souaré before Clattenburg brought the half to a close.


Second half

Neither side made any changes to their personnel during the interval and Manchester United kicked off the second half. Within two minutes, Dann fouled Rashford and became the first Crystal Palace player to be booked. In the 52nd minute, Rashford flicked the ball to Fellaini whose shot from inside the Crystal Palace penalty area struck the crossbar with Hennessey stationary in the goal. Two minutes later, Cabaye's free kick from the right side of the pitch deflected off Smalling's head and found Jedinak whose shot went high over the Manchester United goal. Martial's 61st-minute header from an
Antonio Valencia Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera, known as Antonio Valencia (; born 4 August 1985), is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played primarily as a right-sided player throughout his career, initially as a right winger, before developin ...
cross struck the Crystal Palace goalpost before Delaney was booked for a foul on Rojo. The Manchester United player could not continue and was replaced by
Matteo Darmian Matteo Darmian (born 2 December 1989) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a full-back for club Inter Milan. He began his career at A.C. Milan, making his senior debut in 2006 at the age of 16 and Serie A debut in 2007 at the age ...
in the 66th minute. Rashford then went down with a knee injury after being involved in a clash with Zaha: unable to play on, he was substituted for Ashley Young, while Crystal Palace made their first change of the afternoon with Puncheon coming on for Cabaye. In the 77th minute, Crystal Palace won a corner which was taken by Puncheon. The ball was headed clear by Fellaini and fell to Ward whose high cross-field pass found Puncheon on the left-hand side of the Manchester United penalty area. He controlled the ball before striking it with his left foot past de Gea to give Crystal Palace the lead. Manchester United equalised three minutes later through Mata. Rooney made a run before sending in a cross which Fellaini passed to Mata. His volley took a deflection off Ward and passed Hennessey low into the Crystal Palace goal to level the score at 1–1. With six minutes of regular time remaining, Crystal Palace made their second substitution with Wickham being replaced by Gayle, before Rooney was shown the yellow card for a late tackle on Ward. In the 87th minute, Souaré's cross was volleyed goalbound by Zaha but the ball went out for a corner. Mata was then replaced by Lingard as the game headed into five minutes of stoppage time, during which Crystal Palace made their final change of the match with the injured Dann being replaced by
Adrian Mariappa Adrian Joseph Mariappa (born 3 October 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Salford City. Born in England, he represents the Jamaica national team. He progressed through Watford's youth academy, and started p ...
. Zaha's late shot hit the side netting of the Manchester United goal and regular time ended with the scores level, sending the match into
extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...
.


Extra time

One minute into the first half of the additional period, Zaha went down while being challenged by Blind but Clattenburg declined the Crystal Palace appeals for a penalty.
Chris Waddle Christopher Roland Waddle (born 14 December 1960) is an English former professional football player and manager. He currently works as a commentator. Nicknamed "Magic Chris", football journalist Luke Ginnell wrote that Waddle was "widely ackn ...
, summarising for the BBC, described Crystal Palace's tactics as having become "like a training ground exercise" while Alan Smith in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' conjectured that both sides had settled to play out the rest of extra time and resolve the match in a
penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
. In the 97th minute, Rooney's shot from distance was off-target before Hennessey punched away a corner from Blind. Fellaini was then booked for elbowing Jedinak before de Gea was forced to save Bolasie's volley from a Blind clearance. Just before the extra time interval, Smalling was shown a second yellow card for his foul on Bolasie, becoming the fourth player in the history of the FA Cup to be sent off in the final. Early in the second period, Zaha passed to Gayle who struggled to cleanly strike the ball which was cleared by de Gea. From the subsequent corner, Manchester United counter-attacked but Lingard was fouled by James McArthur who became the third Crystal Palace player to be booked. Carrick then headed Lingard's cross wide from . In the 110th minute, Manchester United took the lead: a low cross from Valencia was partly cleared by Delaney but Lingard struck the ball from around into the top corner of the Crystal Palace goal to make it 2–1. He was booked in the aftermath for removing his shirt during the celebrations. With eight minutes remaining, Jedinak struck the ball from distance but his shot went wide of Manchester United's goal. Crystal Palace increased the pressure and de Gea had to save at the feet of Zaha to maintain his side's lead. After two minutes of stoppage time, and despite attempts to score from Zaha and Bolasie, the match ended in a 2–1 victory for Manchester United who secured their first FA Cup final win since 2004.


Details


Post-match

Rooney was named man of the match and expressed admiration for his opponents: "It was a great advert for the Premier League. Credit to Palace, they’ve had a tough end to the season". His manager van Gaal reflected on the significance for Manchester United and his own success, saying "It is fantastic to win this title for the club, for the fans, and also for me because I now have won the cup in four countries, and not many managers have done that." Crystal Palace defender Delaney was gracious in defeat, suggesting Manchester United had deserved their victory: "They were the better side on the day, we didn't do ourselves justice. Fair play to them, no hard feelings from my part." Pardew was less magnanimous, highlighting the officiating that had gone against his side: "My players gave everything. Everything. And they deserved to win but the game is like that. We had a couple of decisions that went against us, big time. Connor was through, Wilfried had a penalty but I'm not going to bleat." Former Arsenal player Martin Keown described Clattenburg's decision not to play the advantage for Wickham's first-half opportunity as "a shocking decision" and "a massive let off for Manchester United". Alan Smith, writing in ''The Guardian'', described the decision as "baffling" and "dismal". Clattenburg was later criticised by former players, including
Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premi ...
and
Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and w ...
, for some of the decisions he made during the match against Crystal Palace. He went on to officiate the
2016 UEFA Champions League Final The 2016 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League, the 61st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion C ...
and was named the Best Referee of the Year at the Globe Soccer Awards in December 2016. The following year, in an interview with the ''
Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country. ...
'', Clattenburg admitted that he "made a couple of errors" during the FA Cup match and that he believed he "could have done better". As winners, Manchester United qualified for the 2016 FA Community Shield and the group stage of the
2016–17 UEFA Europa League The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2017 UEFA Eu ...
. Since they had also qualified for the Europa League group stage based on their league position, Southampton entered the group stage (taking the league spot from Manchester United instead of their original spot in the third qualifying round), while Southampton's spot in the third qualifying round was given to West Ham United as the highest placed Premier League team not already qualified for European competitions. Five days after the final, van Gaal was dismissed by Manchester United with his replacement
José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the Britis ...
being appointed the following day. In defence of the trophy the following season, Manchester United lost at the quarter-final stage, with a 1–0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Pardew was dismissed in December 2016 with Crystal Palace one point above the
relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open league ...
positions in the Premier League, and was replaced by
Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...
the following day. Crystal Palace were knocked out in the fourth round, losing 3–0 at home against
Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
the following month.


See also

* 2016 Football League Cup Final


References


Bibliography

* {{featured article
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FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...
Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
FA Cup Final 2016 FA Cup Final 2016 FA Cup Final 2016 FA Cup Final 2016