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. They were reduced to nine men when Petros Ioannou was sent off in a bad-tempered finish.
Having announced he was leaving in January and subsequently falling out with supporters when he told them to “stay humble”, Glasner, who won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022 before leading Palace to FA Cup glory last year, could yet sign off from his spell in south London with another trophy.
The schedule means that Palace will have three weeks to prepare for their next match, which will be the first leg against Fiorentina – 16th in Serie A – at Selhurst Park on 9 April.
Adam Wharton recorded a timely eighth assist of the season with a brilliant pass for Sarr’s first goal on the eve of Thomas Tuchel naming his next England squad, and he believes Palace are learning quickly at this level. “It’s exciting,” he said. “The quarter-final of a European competition is a massive thing – a lot of us haven’t played in Europe before so it’s a great challenge for us to play against a top team in Italy.”
Wharton didn’t start against Leeds on Sunday in an attempt to keep him fresh for this game. 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. Out of the corner of his eye, Wharton spotted Sarr rampaging through the middle and hooked the ball into his path, with the usually dependable Zlatan Alomerovic making the mistake of speeding out of his area far too quickly. The Palace forward skipped around him and rolled the ball into the empty net.
All it needed was a second goal to create some breathing space but Maxence Lacroix saw his header from a corner saved by Alomerovic at his near post. The introduction of last season’s Palace player of the year, Daniel Muñoz, as a substitute on the hour mark as he made his return from a shoulder injury, showed that Glasner knew the job wasn’t done.
His worst fears were realised when the totally unmarked Saborit was able to power home a header from a corner. It was the 15th goal Palace have conceded this season from a set piece.
Alomerovic denied Wharton his first goal since joining from Blackburn more than two years ago before producing another excellent save from Muñoz’s follow-up effort. Having been sent off seven times before in his career, Saborit knew exactly what fate awaited him when he hauled back Sarr with a quarter of an hour to play and picked up a second booking.
Palace piled on the pressure and Sarr squandered a great chance when he was found by Muñoz inside the area. Jørgen Strand Larsen received a caution that will rule him out of the first leg against Fiorentina just as Jean-Philippe Mateta joined him in attack, but they could not make their numerical advantage count again as the game went into extra time.
Larnaca’s resistance was eventually broken when a short corner saw Daichi Kamada dribble into the area to tee up Sarr perfectly for the winner. There was a late scare when the referee awarded a penalty against Mateta for handball but it was swiftly overturned by the video assistant referee when replays showed the ball struck his hip.
Sarr struck the post when Alomerovic came up for a late corner and was denied a deserved hat-trick, but Palace ensured their maiden European adventure remains alive and kicking.
