Crystal Palace’s first taste of European competition has already taken them to Norway, Poland, France, Ireland and Cyprus. After Ismaïla Sarr finally broke down a stubborn Larnaca defence that had only conceded once in their previous seven matches in this competition, they needed more magic from their top scorer in extra time to set up a mouthwatering meeting with Fiorentina in the quarter-finals.
Everything was going to plan for Oliver Glasner’s side when Sarr – who was part of the Senegal side who were stripped of the Africa Cup of Nations title they won in January on Tuesday – fired in his 14th goal of the season early on. But in their 49th match of a marathon season, Palace again illustrated their vulnerability from set pieces when Enric Saborit equalised from a corner.
The Spaniard was then sent off before Sarr eventually struck again in the ninth minute of extra time to end Larnaca’s hopes of becoming the first Cypriot side to knock an English club out of Europe. Could Glasner – who won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022 before leading Palace to FA Cup glory last year – still sign off from his spell in south London with a trophy?
After they were wasteful in last week’s stalemate, he stressed the importance of Palace being ruthless against a side that boasted the best defensive record of any club in Europe this season. Adam Wharton didn’t start against Leeds on Sunday in an attempt to keep him fresh for this game and his creativity was badly missed until he came off the bench after an hour. With Thomas Tuchel set to announce his latest squad on Fridaytoday, the 22-year-old again showed why he has a unique skill set compared to the other contenders to play in central midfield for England this summer with the assist for the opening goal.
