In reaching the 2016 FA Cup final after defeating Watford 1-0, Crystal Palace have set up a rematch of the last and only other time they appeared on a grand Wembley stage in 1990 against Manchester United.
The Eagles have had very little success in cup competitions, with the only winners medal they have being the Full Members Cup triumph in 1990-91 – a competition that was cancelled at the end of following season with the introduction of the Premier League.
There are some similarities between the FA Cup final in 1990 and this iteration, beyond just the teams involved. In that campaign Palace found themselves sitting in 15th, which is the same position they finished 2015-16 and with the same gap of five points between themselves and the relegation zone.
The 1990 final began and with both teams involved in high scoring semis, the final itself started in similar circumstances. Palace took the lead in the 17th minute after Gary O’Reilly headed home a free-kick, despite the efforts of Jim Leighton. United made it 1-1 going into halftime after a goal from Bryan Robson took a deflection and found a way past Nigel Martyn.
The second-half saw the Red Devils strike first after Neil Webb found current Stoke coach Mark Hughes, who was able to fire the ball into the bottom corner. Eagles manager Steve Coppell made a change to bring on Ian Wright, making an immediate impact to run past two defenders and slotting past Leighton to equalise and force extra time.
Palace found the next breakthrough when current first team coach, John Salako, hit a cross towards the far-post which created hesitation from the United goalkeeper and Wright made the most of to score his second. That was not the end of the drama though, with Hughes scoring again after getting on the end of a Danny Wallace through ball, making it 3-3 and ultimately forcing the game into a replay.
Manchester manager Sir Alex Ferguson made a key change going into the next game, choosing to replace Leighton with Les Sealey between the posts. It proved an inspired move, with Sealy making key saves to keep Palace scoreless in a tough match.
The replay was not as high scoring as the first meeting, with United claiming victory after Lee Martin chested down a Webb cross and fired high into the net past Martyn, handing the Red Devils the trophy with the 1-0 win.
This was the first trophy won under Ferguson and it lessened the pressure building on the now legendary United manager. The general feeling was that had the club failed to win the cup, the Scotsman may have been on the way out because of the apparent lack of progress in the league during the first few seasons he had been in charge.
This is yet another similarity between the two finals, with current United boss Louis van Gaal under pressure after yet another season where United have failed to challenge for the league title. With the FA Cup the only piece of silverware they can win this year, it seems the only way that fans will accept the Dutch manager returning this year would be defeating Palace to lift the cup.
United will not find it easy, because there are two staff members in Pardew and Salako looking to extract revenge over the 1990 defeat and former Red Devils player Wilfried Zaha looking to prove his ability to perform after being sold in 2015.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook
