Manchester United lift 12th FA Cup to win first silverware in post-Sir Alex era

Crystal Palace starting XI: Wayne Hennessey (GK); Joel Ward, Scott Dann, Damien Delaney, Pape Souare; Yohan Cabaye, Mile Jedinak; Wilfried Zaha, James McArthur, Yannick Bolasie; Connor Wickham

In 1990 Alan Pardew was a part of a five-man Crystal Palace midfield which lost to United and 26 years later he had the perfect opportunity to avenge that loss as a manager. Speaking of which, much like Alex Ferguson, who had his neck on the line during the 1990 FA Cup final after failing to win a trophy for three and a half years, Louis van Gaal came into this game with his future up for speculation as well.

Van Gaal, on the other hand, made just one change to his starting lineup with the young Jesse Lingard replaced by Fellaini.

As has been the norm of Van Gaal's men this season, United dominated possession from the start. The best chance of the first half fell to Martial, after some good work by Rashford on wing. The forward picked out the Frenchman with a cross, however, Martial's thumping effort was heroically blocked by Ward.

Jason Puncheon gave Crystal Palace the lead, against the run of play, in the 78th minute and sent the fans into a delirium. The goal arrived from a corner, which was initially defended by Fellaini. The midfielder's header reached Joel Ward near the halfway line, and United defenders quickly pushed up the pitch. However, the defender picked out the run of Puncheon with a lovely cross-field pass, and the 29-year-old beat De Gea with a thunderous shot at his near post, before Mata could close him down.

However, Mata made quick amends for his mistake by scoring the equalizer just three minutes after the restart. The goal was created by a determined and penetrating run by Wayne Rooney, who danced past a host of Palace players from the midfield, before delivery a cross at the far post. The ball was chested down by Fellaini and drilled in towards the goal by a sweet strike from Mata's left foot. The ball hit Ward on the line, before bundling into the net, amidst frantic celebrations from the United players.

Chris Smalling received his second yellow card of the match when he brought down Bolasie in his attempt to stop the attacker from getting away in a counter attack. Palace came close to take advantage of their numerical advantage in the second half of the extra time when Gayle was put through on goal, and only a brilliant save from De Gea preserved United's clean sheet.

That save proved to be crucial as substitute Jesse Lingard produced a moment of magic few minutes later. Valencia broke down the right wing and drilled in a low cross into the box. The ball was initially cleared by Delaney, but it reached Lingard at the edge of the box on the bounce and the 23-year-old produced a volley to remember into the top corner of the Palace net to make it 2-1.