- Palace beat Man City in the FA Cup final to secure their first ever major trophy
- But Guehi and Wharton were unable to join in the celebrations on Saturday night
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Was Cole Palmer right to leave Man City?
Marc Guehi and Adam Wharton both missed Crystal Palace‘s FA Cup celebration party after being taken to hospital.
Eberechi Eze was Palace’s hero in their 1-0 win against Manchester City in the final on Saturday, his goal bringing the Eagles their first major trophy in their 120-year history.
But fellow England star Guehi took a blow to the eye just before the hour mark and had to be substituted for Jefferson Lerma.
The 24-year-old still joined his team in their celebrations on the pitch after the game, and was able to walk up the fabled Wembley steps to collect his winners’ medal from Prince William.
But after the fact, Guehi was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, and was not discharged until midnight, meaning he missed his team’s late night party at Wembley Boxpark.
Doctors were concerned that the centre back had suffered a fractured eye socket after he complained of a slight loss of sight.
Crystal Palace stars Marc Guehi and Adam Wharton missed their side’s FA Cup celebrations
Both players were taken to hospital on Saturday night, Guehi with an eye injury and Wharton due to concussion checks
In a social media post late Saturday night, Wharton joked that he forgot his side won the final
However, the understood prognosis is that he avoided a fracture but sustained severe bruising to his eye.
Whether Guehi will be available for Palace’s final two Premier League games – against Wolves and Liverpool – is currently unknown.
But it is believed he will be in contention for England’s World Cup Qualifiers against Andorra and Senegal on June 7 and June 10 respectively.
Wharton, on the other hand, was in hospital for precautionary concussion checks after a powerful strike from City’s Kevin De Bruyne hit the back of his head.
He posted a photo of himself in a hospital robe late on Saturday night with the rib-tickling caption: ‘Apparently we won the FA Cup EAGLESSSSSSSSSS’, jokingly implying that he forgot the game because of his head injury.
Palace boss Oliver Glasner hailed his players’ mentality after beating City, arguing they left everything on the pitch.
‘Special credit to the players, they have never lost belief in me and the coaching staff,’ he said.
‘To be honest I can’t really believe it. I think when you play this game ten times, you win it once, and this happened today.
England star Guehi was taken off just before the hour mark after a painful blow to his eye
Wharton did not see out 90 minutes either and was taken off for Will Hughes in the 87th minute
‘The goal was the first time we were in their half and then we just defended with every single part of the body.’
Eze’s goal came in the 16th minute, meaning Palace had to defend their lead for over two-thirds of the game.
They almost found a second goal when Daniel Munoz found the back of the net moments before the hour mark.
But the wing back’s goal was ruled out after Ismaila Sarr was adjudged to have been offside in the build up.
That may have made Palace’s job harder, but they valiantly defended their advantage against the odds to produce one of the most memorable giant-killings in recent FA Cup history.
