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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.
Sarr had already spurned an early opportunity from close range after Jørgen Strand Larsen set him up and the Norway striker was again involved in winning the ball back to allow Palace to launch their attack. Out of the corner of his eye, Wharton spotted Sarr 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.
At the other end, Walter Benítez was a virtual spectator as he again deputised in goal for the unwell Dean Henderson. All it needed was a second goal to create some breathing space as Maxence Lacroix saw his header from a corner saved by Alomerovic at his near post.
Larnaca looked determined to find a way back into the game at the start of the second half as Palace continued to enjoy the majority of possession. The introduction of last season’s player of the year, Daniel Muñoz, as a substitute on 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. Strand Larsen received a caution that will rule him out of the first leg of the quarter-final 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 and the rain began pouring down.
Larnaca’s resistance was eventually broken when a short corner saw Daichi Kamada dribble into the area to tee up Sarr perfectly. 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.
Larnaca were reduced to nine men when Petros Ioannou was sent off in a bad-tempered finish. Sarr was denied a deserved hat-trick when Alomerovic came up for a late corner as Palace ensured their European adventure remains alive and kicking.
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