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This was a severe case of deja vu for Crystal Palace on their maiden European adventure, although at least this time they managed to avoid defeat. After surprisingly losing 1-0 to Larnaca here 139 days ago in the league stage, Oliver Glasner’s side were again left to rue missed opportunities and a lack of creativity in attack despite the return of Jean-Philippe Mateta as a late substitute.
The France striker received a mixed reception after his failed move to Milan in January made him public enemy number one for some Palace fans. But having missed six weeks due to a knee injury that scuppered his transfer to Serie A in January, he could not inspire his side to victory after coming off the bench to replace £48m club record signing Jørgen Strand Larsen.
Mateta was booed by some supporters and there were a few more for Glasner and the referee at the final whistle on another frustrating night for the Palace fans.
The Austrian will be scratching his head for solutions before next week’s second leg in Cyprus. Perhaps his system will be better suited to playing away but Larnaca will surely see no reason to change their tactics now they have kept Palace at bay for 180 minutes and have an incredible six clean sheets in their seven Conference League matches so far.
“I’m not frustrated today – we just didn’t take the chances. We will play the third game against them and it’s time to score,” said the Palace manager. “It’s clear if they concede one in the group stage they won’t concede three or four against us tonight. Maybe we have to wake up to their style a little bit.”
Palace had just ended a club record unbeaten run of 19 matches that included their FA Cup final win against Manchester City the last time Larnaca were in south London and there have been plenty of changes at both clubs since then.
While Glasner remains manager of Palace – for now – despite a turbulent few months, the Cypriot side appointed Spaniard Javi Rozada to replace his compatriot Imanol Idiakez last week after they missed out on winning their domestic league title.
Glasner had said that he was unsure of what to expect from his new counterpart. But given the win over Palace in October was Larnaca’s only victory in their nine previous away games in Europe he opted to go on the attack. Brennan Johnson started in an unfamiliar role at right wing-back in the absence of Daniel Muñoz with a shoulder injury, while Maxence Lacroix was back in central defence after suspension.
Evann Guessand should have opened the scoring in the eighth minute when he was picked out on the edge of the six-yard box by Strand Larsen. Somehow his shot cannoned into the chest of the goalkeeper Zlatan Alomerovic. It would prove to be the best chance Palace created all night. Strand Larsen should have made more of a pass into the area after a wriggling run from Daichi Kamada, before Ismaïla Sarr curled over in a whirlwind start that saw them again fail to make a breakthrough.
Yet Larnaca – who ended up eighth in the league stage, two places above Palace – once more showed their resilience as they sat in a low block. Tyrick Mitchell almost pounced on Kamada’s cross that bobbled to the back post but the impressive Alomerovic stuck out a leg and managed to deflect the ball over the crossbar. Glasner trudged off the pitch at half-time looking like a manager with plenty on his mind.
By contrast, the luxuriously tanned Rozada looked most comfortable in his cream chinos and wafer-thin jacket despite the gusty wind and rain that swept over Selhurst Park at the start of the second half and made playing conditions very tricky.
Mateta was all smiles as he warmed up on the touchline and increasingly it felt like Palace would have to turn to the 28-year-old. A brilliant cross from Johnson that Mateta would surely have gobbled up skimmed off Sarr’s head soon after. Strand Larsen showed his commitment to the cause by chasing back almost the entire length of the pitch when Wharton lost possession.
Johnson had trouble keeping the ball in the corner quadrant as the conditions got worse but Chris Richards should have hit the target with a free header. Mateta was finally introduced with 13 minutes left and could easily have scored with his first touch after the ball deflected into his path from Sarr’s cross. Larnaca even threatened to snatch it late on but Palace must find a way to break their watertight defence down next week.
