Crystal Palace heroes deliver at Wembley but will hangovers prevent midweek returns?
CRYSTAL PALACE lifted their first major trophy at Wembley on Saturday after defeating Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup final.
And from a Dream Team perspective, the defining moment could not have been scripted better.
Eberechi Eze (£5.4m) was comfortably the most popular recruit for Gameweek 36 and it was the 26-year-old who scored what proved to be a historic winner in the 16th minute.
Palace’s No10 has now scored six goals in his last five outings, a fruitful spell that has yielded 59 points.
His cup-winning strike propelled him past the 300-point mark – he’s just the fifth midfielder to achieve a triple century this season.
Fittingly, it was Daniel Munoz (£5.4m) who provided the assist for Eze at Wembley.
The Colombian wing-back has been an exceptional performer throughout 2024/25 and now ranks first among defenders with 299 points to his name.
Munoz has scored six goals, registered eight assists, contributed to 17 clean sheets, and made a whopping 144 tackles.
He played his part in keeping Pep Guardiola’s side at bay and ultimately notched 12 points for his 12th double-digit haul of the campaign.
Eze and Munoz are Palace’s two most selected players in Dream Team and so their combined return of 22 points would have been warmly welcomed by many gaffers.
Many Dream Team bosses would have backed the pair – or the likes of Marc Guehi (£4m), Jean-Philippe Mateta (£4m) and Ismaila Sarr (£4.1m) – because Oliver Glasner’s side have two fixtures to fulfil this Gameweek but how will that play out after sizeable celebrations?
It will certainly be interesting to see how the Eagles line up against Wolves in midweek.
The South Londoners are guaranteed to finish in mid-table in the Premier League no matter what happens from this point and so it wouldn’t be a surprise if a few key players nursed well-deserved hangovers from the stands at Selhurst Park on Tuesday night.
On the other hand, with the result largely irrelevant, Glasner may feel his regulars deserve to take centre stage for what might become a glorified victory lap.
If the latter turns out to be true then Eze and friends may even stumble upon a few more useful points.
Dean Henderson (£4.1m) was Palace’s hero at the other end of the pitch, particularly for his save from Omar Marmoush’s (£4.8m) first-half penalty.
The England goalkeeper banked 12 points when all was said and done and now ranks third among players in his position with 196 points.
At the risk of thinking too far ahead, victory in the FA Cup final means the Eagles will participate in next season’s Europa League and the prospect of extra fixtures for Eze, Munoz and company should put Dream Team bosses on high alert.
But that’s a conversation for a later date.
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