WATCH the FA Cup LIVE on beIN SPORTS in New Zealand | Sign up to take advantage of our 7-day FREE TRIAL here

Having led the club to its first major trophy by masterminding a 1-0 success over Manchester City in the final last May, Oliver Glasner oversaw one of its most humiliating defeats here.

Despite starting first-team regulars Marc Guehi, Adam Wharton and Yeremy Pino alongside a host of squad players, Palace became the first FA Cup holder to lose to a non-League opponent since 1908-1909, when Palace itself beat Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Palace did not register a single shot on target in the first half, and fell behind two minutes before the interval as Macclesfield captain Paul Dawson, playing with his head bandaged after an early collision, nodded Luke Duffy's deep free-kick across goal and in.

The home fans were in dreamland on the hour mark after a goalmouth scramble, after which Isaac Buckley-Ricketts showed great reactions to flick beyond Eagles goalkeeperWalter Benitez.

Max Dearnley kept Macclesfield's two-goal lead intact with an excellent save to keep out Wharton, shortly after the offside flag went up to deny Christantus Uche.

A stunning Yeremy Pino free-kick induced some nerves going into eight minutes of stoppage-time, but Macclesfield, whose forward Ethan McLeod was killed in a car crash less than a month ago, held on for an emotional triumph.

Glasner, whose side is now winless in its past nine games in all competitions, could not find an excuse for his players' humiliation.

"We give congratulations to Macclesfield for winning," Glasner said.

"We had no kind of quality, and I saw no one who could win a dribble. Then, conceding set goals and timing in the header.

"If you can't create clear chances, it is a lack of quality that we have shown. We deserved to lose.

"Honestly, I have no explanation for what I have seen, and we can find excuses, but you don't need tactics and a manager for these games.

"So I think if you just show what you are capable of and show pride, then you perform in a different way.”

A whopping 117 places separate Palace and Macclesfield in the English football pyramid.

While the Eagles are a point above Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, the Silkmen are a point below Buxton, Curzon Ashton, Spennymoor Town and Marine in the National League North.

That is the most places to separate a losing FA Cup team from its conqueror, making this statistically the biggest upset in the competition's 145-year history.