FA Cup – Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United: 5 Talking Points
The FA Cup final was played out between Crystal Palace and Manchester United and Louis van Gaal’s men went on to win the game 2-1 deep into extra time as the scores were level after normal time.
The game was a cagey affair initially before springing to life all of a sudden. Substitute Jason Puncheon opened the scoring deep into the second half before Juan Mata equalized just a few minutes later. The game was taken into extra time as a result.
In extra time, Chris Smalling was sent off on the edge of the first half, for a second bookable offence. However, 10 men Manchester United completed their comeback via a Jesse Lingard spectacular goal which left Crystal Palace scrambling to respond which they failed to do.
Let’s have a look at the game’s talking points.
#1 Louis van Gaal finally wins a trophy and loses his job?
It’s one of fate’s cruelest ironies that a man who has faced much criticism over the years for not living up to his billing as a tactical genius and a winner at Manchester United will probably be losing his job within moments of winning a trophy.
It was right before Louis van Gaal stepped out to face the media in a conference post match that news broke out everywhere that Manchester United had agreed on terms with Jose Mourinho and this didn’t seem like a false alarm with almost every major media outlet reporting the matter.
Van Gaal seemed oblivious to the news or feigned ignorance as he continued to speak on in the media with plans for reinforcements next season. However, regardless of whether he knew or not, it seemed to reek of classlessness on the part of the camp which leaked the news (which seems to be true) that a man should win a trophy and have to end up with such humiliation right after.
Manchester United’s media team are yet to issue a denial and for what it’s worth, Van Gaal has gone out on a relative high with a trophy to speak of from all his jobs in major European Club football.