Dean Henderson reveals what he told Pep Guardiola in full-time confrontation at Wembley | OneFootball

Manchester City boss was not happy with Crystal Palace goalkeeper after eventful FA Cup final

Pep Guardiola and Dean Henderson had an angry-looking exchange on the pitch straight after Manchester City’s shock defeat by Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final.

The seven-time winners were stunned at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, Oliver Glasner’s side battling to a momentous 1-0 victory courtesy of Eberechi Eze’s 16th-minute goal to deliver the first major trophy in club history.

Though Eze was the match-winning hero, England goalkeeper Henderson was the main protagonist of an eventful final and equally as influential, making a string of excellent saves throughout to preserve Palace’s slender lead.

However, City fans will feel strongly that the former Manchester United man should not have been on the pitch to make that penalty save, having controversially avoided a red card just minutes before when he reached out of his area to swipe the ball away from an onrushing Haaland with his hand after a long pass sent forward from defence by Josko Gvardiol.

Referee Stuart Attwell’s decision not to send off Henderson for handling outside the box was backed up following a review by VAR, who deemed that “the direction in which Haaland was going made it possible, but not [denying] an obvious goalscoring opportunity."

That contentious call was slammed by pundits covering the final, with Wayne Rooney insisting that VAR should be ditched, Ian Wright calling it “absolutely pathetic” and former City defender Joleon Lescott describing it as “one of the worst decisions” he had ever seen in football.

A frustrated Guardiola exchanged words with Henderson on the pitch immediately after the full-time whistle as the red and blue celebrations began, with the Palace star believing he was annoyed about perceived time-wasting in the second half rather than the handball incident.

“I just went to shake his hand but obviously I think he was disappointed with the time-wasting,” Henderson told ITV. “I said, 'You got your 10 minutes [of stoppage time] you were wanting'. No hard feelings.”

Guardiola replied simply “nothing” when asked what he had said to Henderson during a post-match interview with BBC Sport.

On the handball incident, he said only: “Ask the referee.”

Pressed on if he felt Henderson should have been sent off, Guardiola replied: “It’s not my business.”

Henderson, meanwhile, said he wasn’t sure the VAR review was even for him at the time and he was not interested in dwelling on the controversy as Palace celebrate one of the greatest days in the club’s long history.

“I didn't know it was for me in all honesty," he said. "The ball had come into the box so I wasn't sure what they were doing it for. Who cares, it doesn't matter.”

Henderson dedicated the Wembley win to his late father, who died last year.

“I lost my dad at the start of the season, but he was with me today. He was with me every kick of the game. I dedicate that win to him,” he said.

Henderson added of the FA Cup triumph: “It's incredible. I'm so proud of everyone. We deserve this moment. The fans deserve it, the manager deserves it, everyone involved deserves it, the backroom staff. It's been phenomenal.

"Just so delighted to get over the line. It seemed like we were out there for about 24 hours defending but fair play to the boys, they stuck in, they got the blocks in, it was fantastic and we're here now."