Glasner’s team in crisis
©IMAGO
Defending champions Crystal Palace embarrassed themselves in the FA Cup and failed early in the third round, in which the Premier League clubs also intervened for the first time. Coach Oliver Glasner’s team lost 1:2 (0:1) to sixth division promoted team FC Macclesfield.
Paul Dawson (43rd minute) shortly before half-time and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts (61st) in the second half made the club, which was only founded in October 2020 as the successor to Macclesfield Town, rejoice. Yéremy Pino’s goal in the 90th minute came too late for Glasner’s team, who spared a few regulars. The Macclesfield fans stormed the pitch after the final whistle.
After a good start to the season including a Super Cup win, the embarrassment in the FA Cup adds to the Eagles’ poor performances in recent weeks. Crystal Palace have been waiting for a win for nine games, while the future of Glasner, who has also been linked to Manchester United, is being hotly debated. After the final whistle, the Austrian emphasized that his team “deserved” the defeat because they “didn’t show enough quality”.
As the “BBC” calculated, both clubs are separated by 117 places in the English league system – there has never been such an outsider victory in the cup. Macclesfield wrote itself “into the history books of the FA Cup” – with “one of the greatest underdog victories of all time,” wrote the British newspaper “Guardian”. The PA news agency said: “Magical Macclesfield”.