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synopsis
Pep Guardiola confronted Dean Henderson after Manchester City's FA Cup Final loss to Crystal Palace, upset over a controversial no-call when the Palace keeper handled the ball outside the box—a moment Guardiola felt warranted a red card.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was spotted having a verbal altercation with Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson after the defeat in the FA Cup Final at the Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday, May 17.
Crystal Palace clinched their first major domestic title with a 1-0 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup Final. Eberechi Eze netted a goal for the champions in the first half of the title clash and Crystal Palace held on to their lead at the end of the first half. In the second half, The Eagles put up a resilient defensive display, denying Manchester City to make a comeback despite City dominating possession and chances.
Though Eberechi Eze gave an early lead to Crystal Palace in their quest for their first major title, the hero of the final was goalkeeper Dean Henderson as he saved a crucial penalty from Omar Marmoush after Erling Haaland decided to give his strike partner the ball rather than taking it himself in the 36th minute of the FA Cup final. Henderson also saved a crucial goal from Haaland in the first half when Crystal Palace were leading.
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Dean Henderson’s controversy
Though Crystal Palace clinched their first-ever major trophy, the talking point has been Dean Henderson escaping a red card after he allegedly handled the ball by Erling Haaland outside the ball. The incident took place in the first half of the FA Cup Final, where Palace were leading 1-0 after the 16th minute goal by Eberechi Eze and Haaland ran at goal with a hope of scoring an equalizer for Manchester City.
Henderson ran out of his goal to stop the ball but misjudged it. The City striker got to the ball before it reached the penalty area. Even though Henderson was not allowed to use his hands outside the box as per the rule, he still did it by slapping the ball away. Despite the replays confirming that Crystal Palace goalkeeper stopped the ball outside the box, after a long VAR check, it was decided he wouldn’t be sent off.
Manchester City dugout, especially boss Pep Guardiola was clearly unhappy with the decision not to send off Dean Henderson for his apparent handling of the ball outside the box, which is considered a straight red-card offence for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity under the laws of the game. At the end of the full time, Guardiola was looking to make that clear about his dissatisfaction with the match referee.
Guardiola confronts Dean Henderson
After the final whistle, Pep Guardiola was spotted having a heated conversation with Dean Henderson after he escaped from being sent off for allegedly stopping the ball outside the box. In a video that went viral on social media, Manchester City boss was heard telling ‘this is not fair’ to Henderson as he was visibly disappointed with the officiating and felt that Crystal Palace’s handling of the ball had a decisive impact on the outcome of the game.
Guardiola was approaching Henderson as he celebrated the win with the Crystal Palace team but the latter was ushered away by his teammate and goalkeeper Matt Turner.
After the match, Dean Henderson revealed what he told Manchester City boss. Speaking to the BBC sport, Henderson said he hold Guardiola, "'You got your 10 minutes like you wanted.' But, Guardiola insisted that he said nothing.
Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City ended the season without winning a single trophy. The City missed out on winning the Champions League after failing to qualify for the round of 16 following their defeat to Real Madrid in the knockout playoffs. Manchester City could not defend their Premier League title as they are currently at the sixth spot on the points table.
