After being denied their rightful place in this season’s Europa League, Crystal Palace finally have their revenge. In Oliver Glasner’s final match in charge, it was fitting that Jean-Philippe Mateta should score what turned out to be the winning goal after his January move to Milan was scuppered by a failed medical. It has been that kind of season in south London. Having rescued them from the brink of extinction only 16 years ago, how Steve Parish must have relished this occasion.
The Palace chair found himself sitting next to the Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin for the biggest night in their history and he can now start planning for the Europa League campaign that was denied to them as last year’s FA Cup winners were adjudged to have broken European football’s governing body’s rules on multiclub ownership.
As for Glasner, it ends any debate over whether he is the greatest manager in Palace’s history. Having been second best in the first half, he must take great credit for the way his side seized the initiative after the break and the Austrian can now ride off into the sunset with a third trophy in the space of just 12 months. Surely a top club will snap him up soon enough.
The streets of Leipzig were a sea of red, blue and white during the daytime as fans from both sides enjoyed the sunshine, with many of the 15,000 Palace supporters in town replicating the march to the stadium that brought them good luck in last year’s FA Cup final against Manchester City. Thankfully there was no repeat of the unsavoury scenes on Tuesday when local police said 60 Palace fans classed as “known troublemakers” were ordered to leave the city centre following clashes with their Rayo counterparts.
Both sets of supporters unveiled huge tifos before kick-off, with Palace’s referencing their long journey from being rescued from administration by Parish in 2010 to last season’s first major trophy. “Liquidation Cancelled, FA Cup Landed, Europa League Boarding,” it read. Glasner opted not to risk Chris Richards from the start after he failed to recover from torn ankle ligaments, with the USA captain on the bench as Chadi Riad took his place. There was better news that Adam Wharton was fit to start after limping off against Arsenal at the weekend, while Rayo’s influential Morocco winger Ilias Akhomach was one of only eight outfield players named on the bench, along with 38-year-old club legend Óscar Trejo in his last match.
Given that it was the Spanish side’s first final in their 102-year history, Palace were in the unusual position of being favourites – their budget is more than the three other teams who reached the semi-finals of this competition. It looked like they could be in for a long night after a cagey start where there was little quality on show. Pathé Ciss was shown a yellow card in the 20th minute for bringing down a charging Yeremy Pino when the Italian referee decided there was a covering defender between him and the goal.
Isi Palazón also went into the book before the first sight of goal came when Jaydee Canvot – the French teenager switched to the right of Palace’s back three to cover Richards’ absence – was caught out of position. Thankfully for him, Alemão could not hit the target from Palazón’s excellent cross. Rayo were dominating possession and went close again after a flying move down their right flank when Unai López curled wide. Palace struggled to create anything until the second minute of stoppage time when Tyrick Mitchell somehow failed to hit the target with a header from Wharton’s inch-perfect pass. Glasner could hardly believe it went wide and headed down the tunnel at the break deep in thought.
His side were almost unrecognisable when they emerged for the second half. Mateta had almost got on the end of a cross from Mitchell moments before Wharton strode forward and unleashed a shot that the Rayo goalkeeper, Augusto Batalla, could only parry straight to the France striker. He somehow managed to keep the rebound down with an instinctive finish and was joined by Canvot in performing his trademark corner-flag-kicking celebration to the delight of the Palace fans.
Their joy was almost doubled straight away when Pino’s brilliant free-kick struck both posts before Mateta again hit the woodwork with the follow-up. Batalla then came to Rayo’s rescue by diverting Mateta’s shot from a Pino pass just wide. They were hanging on by their fingernails.
The Rayo manager, Iñigo Pérez, emptied his bench and his team tried to lay siege to the Palace goal. But they could not find a way past Maxence Lacroix and co. There were tears among both sets of fans as the seconds ticked away but once again it was Palace and their jubilant supporters who emerged victorious.
