Erling Haaland cannot be considered in the same category as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo after passing up a penalty in Manchester City's FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace, according to Wayne Rooney.

City were beaten 1-0 at Wembley by Palace, with Omar Marmoush seeing his first-half penalty saved by Dean Henderson—who was fortunate to still be on the pitch after avoiding a red card despite a VAR review.

Haaland, City’s usual penalty taker, handed the ball to Marmoush with 10 minutes left in the first half. Palace were already ahead thanks to Eberechi Eze’s early goal, but Henderson guessed correctly to deny Marmoush from the spot.

Former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney questioned whether Haaland—only two games into his return from injury—gave up the responsibility due to pressure.

“Erling Haaland is a world-class forward, but when we're talking about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, there's no way they're giving that ball away,”
Rooney said on BBC Sport.
“That's what separates those two players from Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappe and these players.
They are selfish and they want to score every game.
When he misses chances, I think you can see it gets to him and it does affect him.
Maybe the thought of taking a penalty at Wembley might have been too much for him. You never know, he's a human being.”

City boss Pep Guardiola was also surprised Haaland didn’t take the penalty, explaining that the decision was left to the players on the pitch.

“I thought he [would] want to take it,” Guardiola said after the match.
“We didn't speak. There are questions in the meetings, and there are things that are ready for them.
That moment for the free-kicks, the penalty, is especially [about] how you feel. They saw that Omar was ready to take it.”

After the game, Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson revealed he was confident facing Marmoush rather than Haaland.

“Haaland might have stepped up—I wasn’t sure which way he'd go,” Henderson told BBC Sport.
“He gave it to Marmoush—I knew which way he was going. I knew I'd save it.”

Henderson has a history of saving penalties at Wembley. In 2018, he denied a spot-kick while playing for Shrewsbury in the League One Play-off Final during a loan spell from Manchester United.

“I saved a penalty down there a few years ago for Shrewsbury,” he told ITV Sport.
“I fancied my chances in that corner. He smashed it hard and I went the right way.”

Shortly before his penalty heroics, Henderson was involved in a controversial moment when he appeared to handle the ball outside the area as Haaland tried to take it past him.

VAR reviewed the incident after referee Stuart Attwell failed to spot the handball. Although the ball had clearly struck Henderson’s arm outside the box, officials ruled it was not denying a clear goalscoring opportunity since the ball was moving away from goal.

The decision sparked widespread criticism.

Former City defender Joleon Lescott called it "one of the worst decisions" he had seen in football, while Ian Wright labeled the officiating "pathetic."

Henderson, however, brushed off concerns over the incident.

“I didn't know [the VAR review] was for me,” he said to ITV Sport.
“Who cares, it doesn't matter. I am not bothered.”

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