It may as well have been 1990 revisited. All it lacked was the replay. But the central themes, the board narrative and the plot lines were just as they were 26 years ago.
There was the south London hero coming off the bench to breathe life into Palace so that they dared to hope; there was the subsequent heartache, and the United comeback; and there was the beleaguered manager parading an FA Cup as vindication of his regime.
Louis van Gaal may not get another 23 years after this final as Sir Alex Ferguson did, but if this does prove to be his last game at the club, he at least delivered in the manner in which we have come to expect.
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