2016 FA Cup Final
The 2016 FA Cup Final was the 135th final of the
FA Cup, the world's oldest football cup competition. It was televised in the
United Kingdom on
BBC One and BT
Sport, as well as worldwide by FA partners. The match was contested between
Crystal Palace and
Manchester United in a repeat of the
1990 FA Cup Final.[2] It was refereed by
Mark Clattenburg, from
Consett,
County Durham.[3]
The winners Manchester United qualified for the
2016 FA Community Shield and the group stage of the
2016–17 UEFA Europa League.[4] Since Manchester United had already 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 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.
Background
Manchester United went into the final with a record of 11 wins from 18 FA Cup finals, one win and appearance behind
Arsenal in FA Cup wins and
FA Cup Final appearances respectively.[2]
United last played a final in
2007, the first at the new
Wembley, where they lost
1–0 after extra time to
Chelsea. Their last victory in the competition was in 2004, a 3–0 win against
Millwall at
Cardiff's
Millennium Stadium.[2][6] Crystal Palace's only previous
FA Cup final was the aforementioned
1990 final, which they lost to Manchester United after a replay.
Route to the final
Crystal Palace
As a Premier League team, Crystal Palace started in the third round. They were drawn away at fellow Premier League team Southampton. At
St Mary's Stadium on 9 January, Crystal Palace won
2–1 with goals from
Joel Ward and
Wilfried Zaha either side
of Oriol Romeu's equaliser.[7]
In the fourth round, they hosted another top-flight team in the shape of
Stoke City at
Selhurst Park, and Zaha scored the only goal.[8] For the third consecutive round they had Premier League opposition in the shape of
Tottenham Hotspur in the fifth round on
21 February. At
White Hart Lane, Crystal Palace won with
Martin Kelly scoring the only goal at the end of the first half to advance to the quarter-finals for the first time since
1995.[9]
Manchester United
As a Premier League team, Manchester United entered in the third round, hosting
Sheffield United of
League One at
Old Trafford on 9
January 2016. They got their first shot on target through substitute
Memphis Depay, who was fouled in added time by
Dean Hammond for a penalty kick, from which
Wayne Rooney scored the only goal with United's only other shot on target. Manager
Louis van Gaal was under pressure for Manchester United's poor form prior to the match, and the victory was compared to one in the same competition in 1990, in which a goal by
Mark Robins reportedly saved the career of
Alex Ferguson
Twenty days later in the next round, United travelled to
Pride Park to play
Derby County, situated in the play-off places in the
Championship.
Rooney scored the first goal from outside the penalty area, but
George Thorne soon equalised
. In the second half, further United goals by
Daley Blind and
Juan Mata 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.[13]
On
22 February, United played the fifth round away at League One strugglers
Shrewsbury Town.
Chris Smalling opened the scoring, and
Mata doubled the advantage in first-half added time.
Jesse Lingard confirmed a 3–0 win with about half an hour left to play; in the closing stages United had to play with only 10 men when
Will Keane was injured and no substitutes remained.[14]
- published: 22 May 2016
- views: 2729