Crystal Palace fan Matt Maltby looks back on a memorable night in Manchester that saw that Eagles knock Manchester United out of the Carling Cup.

Where do I start with with Wednesday night?

Only a matter of hours before our famous victory that will live long in the memory of every Eagles fanatic, I was too stubborn to even consider what the feeling must be like to defeat the Premier League champions.

Yes pinch me now Palace fans, we did it, and in style too.

Whether Manchester United fans like it or not, we were underestimated by the Red Devils and fully deserved the win.

After a nervous opening half, it started playing on my mind in the second half that we could actually win this game.

And so it proved, after Macheda’s penalty cancelled out Darren Ambrose’s magical opener, Glenn Murray stepped up to the mark with a bullet header in extra time that secured Dougie Freedman’s teams passage to the semi-final, where they will play Cardiff.

If United want to use the excuse that they played an under-strength team then so be it, but every player including the 5,000 Palace fans that made the long trip up to Manchester on Wednesday played a part in putting Palace back on the football map.

Not only did I get in at 8.30am the following morning after an exciting journey on the national express, I also found out in the morning that Crystal Palace was trending on twitter and everyone was talking about us.

We were finally given the credit we deserve after a torrid few seasons which have seen as recognised as a cash-strapped club who are destined for relegation.

My only worry from the game is the fact that our two prized assets in Wilfried Zaha and Nathaniel Clyne played blinders.

As we have found out in the past, when our youngsters get recognised by the Premier League elite, they often find it hard to resist the temptation of playing in the best arena’s in the country week-in week-out.

But Freedman has proven time-and-again that he possesses managerial qualities that could see him succeed at Palace, if that means he must sell in order to improve then he will have our support.

For now though, let’s enjoy the win.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattJMaltby.