Pep Guardiola’s spiky five-word message to Dean Henderson after FA Cup final ‘revealed’ by lipreader
PEP GUARDIOLA called Dean Henderson a “disgrace” after yesterday’s FA Cup final, claims an expert lip-reader.
The Manchester City boss confronted Crystal Palace‘s victorious goalkeeper moments after the final whistle.
Henderson, 28, had been lucky not to be sent off in the first half after handling outside of his box.
It later emerged that Guardiola’s frustration did not come from that incident, but from what he perceived to be egregious time-wasting – despite 10 minutes of stoppage time being added on at the end of the 90 minutes.
After the game, the Mail enlisted the help of professional lip-reader Jeremy Freeman to analyse the exchange.
According to Freeman, Guardiola told Henderson: “You didn’t deserve that. Disgrace.”
With Henderson hitting back “You still had your 10 minutes,” Guardiola is said to have added: “It’s not fair play. You should not – it’s not fair.”
The incident was broken up by Crystal Palace’s former Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner.
Asked about the incident by ITV, Henderson said: “I just want to shake his hand.
“But I think he was disappointed with the time wasting.
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“I said, ‘You got the ten minutes you wanted’. There’s no hard feelings.”
Guardiola, meanwhile, admitted that he was upset by Crystal Palace’s style.
The Spaniard, 54, said of Henderson: “He defended his position, we defend our position. It’s English football. Everyone can do whatever they want.
“We have to score goals. We didn’t lose because Henderson did that. They gave nine or 10 minutes extra time but it’s a question of rhythm.
“All the fans are there to let 22 players play. When Barcelona play, they attack and the other team attacks and it’s beautiful. But it’s a question of the referee. We don’t have the rhythm.
“I understand when it’s 87 minutes, 96, but I don’t feel it. My teams never try because I try to play the game that the people deserve to watch.
“Saying that, congratulations to Henderson and Palace because they defended really well and we were not able to score a goal.”
Henderson, who saved Omar Marmoush’s first half penalty, went on to dedicate his FA Cup triumph to his late father Dougie.
The former Manchester United stopper said: “But honestly I lost my dad at the start of the season and I’ll miss him here today.
“He was with me every kick of the ball today and I dedicate that win to him.”
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CRYSTAL PALACE secured their first ever trophy with a famous FA Cup final victory over Manchester City.
The Eagles went into the match as underdogs but managed to nullify the former Treble winners with a spectacular defensive display.
And at the heart of it was goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who could have been sent off for handling the ball outside the box before making the most of his reprieve.
The goalkeeper went on to save a penalty from Omar Marmoush before producing a string of saves to keep Pep Guardiola’s men out.