It was worth the wait for Crystal Palace. After being denied their rightful place in the Europa League last season, Pierre Sage’s side made the perfect debut by brushing aside Lech Poznan with a victory that will take some of the heat off their new manager.
The Frenchman has big shoes to fill in replacing Oliver Glasner after his predecessor won three trophies in the space of 12 months and there had been some talk of disquiet behind the scenes following his decision to drop the teenager Jaydee Canvot at the weekend. But while Palace face a testing trip to face in-form Leeds on Sunday, having conceded 11 goals from their opening four Premier League matches, they were given a big helping hand by their opponents here well before Radoslaw Murawski was sent off late on for a reckless foul on Canvot.
The result was never in doubt after Poznan gifted Yéremy Pino a goal direct from their own throw-in, with Chris Richards and a Jørgen Strand Larsen penalty making the points safe by half-time. Eddie Nketiah rounded off the win with a late fourth and Sage was delighted to have shared in Palace’s historic moment before a meeting with his former club Lyon next month.
“I saw a lot of videos about the fans, especially during the journey in the Conference League last year,” he said. “They were incredible and I want to share the same thing with them this year.”
It’s a measure how quickly things have moved on in south London that Palace didn’t even have the chance to stage a parade to celebrate their Conference League triumph. But after a difficult start to the new campaign, the captain Dean Henderson had urged supporters to “park the negativity” when he signed a contract extension on Wednesday.
Poznan’s European campaign started on 21 July and the Polish champions were backed by a vociferous travelling support. They were almost able to celebrate a goal inside the opening two minutes but the captain Mikael Ishak fluffed his lines as Palace showed their defensive frailties again.
As well as some noise around Sage following Saturday’s defeat by promoted Ipswich, there have been concerns about the atmosphere at Selhurst Park after the disbanding of influential supporters’ group the Holmesdale Fanatics. But after Terry Yegbe’s disastrous throw-in helped Palace take the lead, they were treated to two more goals before the break.
Richards headed in a deep corner from Adam Wharton and Strand Larsen dispatched a spot-kick after Pino was brought down by Murawski. There could have been another in spectacular fashion after Yegbe hammered the ball into his own net just before half-time but thankfully for him the assistant flagged for offside against Strand Larsen.
The Poznan fans decided that was the moment to perform the dance they have made famous. After their side’s poor first-half performance, it was no wonder that they preferred to turn their backs. At least they could amuse themselves by letting off a series of flares in the second half just as Pino came close to adding his second of the night.
Ismaïla Sarr’s first appearance of the season was greeted with the odd boo after his hopes of a move to Liverpool were dashed in the transfer window. But the reception for the Senegal forward was largely positive as Nketiah also came off the bench to complete the job on a night that Palace will hope can kickstart life under Sage.