A much-transformed Crystal Palace were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw with a 10-man KuPS side at Selhurst Park in the UEFA Conference League knockout stage play-offs.
Palace finished 10th in the Conference League table, with two more games in February for Oliver Glasner’s side after the Austrian manager had already complained about an “irresponsible” fixture schedule during the festival period.
However, he will have himself to blame for the remaining two games of the new year, despite losing an early lead against the Finnish champions. Chrysanthus Uche’s magic in the first half, when he found the back of the net with Tribella, was negated in the second half.
Crystal Palace took a 1-0 lead at the half as Chrysanthus Uche scored for Trivera.
With three minutes to go for the second goal, Piotr Parzysek and Ibrahim Cisse stunned Selhurst Park with goals. Parzysek’s second goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR check, with 10 minutes to go and the score almost turned two into three.
Palace were forced to rely on a reckless challenge from Clinton Antwi and were immediately given their marching orders. Within three minutes of that decision, Justin Devenney scored the equalizer with a header. Glasner made 11 changes to his squad with one eye on him within 48 hours during the trip to Leeds.
He made three full debuts for the academy trio of George King, Dean Benamar and Joel Drakes-Thomas, but when goals were needed, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eddie Nketiah were brought on in the second half. Palace once again came close to scoring through Deveny, but he was thwarted by a big stop from KuPS’s Johannes Kreidl.
Palace are currently preparing for their trip to Leeds on Saturday night, which will be broadcast live on Sky, and will start three games in the eight days until the new year, including Tuesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal, which will also be broadcast live on Sky.
Lots of palace facial features!
Palace’s failure to qualify for the Conference League round of 16 means the Eagles face a hectic schedule in January and February.
Glasner’s side are still in contention for the Carabao Cup, with their quarter-final against Arsenal next Tuesday being broadcast live on Sky Sports, but if they reach the semi-finals they will play four competitions in two months…
January 1: Fulham (H), Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports January 4: Newcastle (A), Premier League, kick-off 3pm, live on Sky Sports January 7: Aston Villa (H), Premier League, kick-off 7.30pm, live on Sky Sports 10th January: Macclesfield (A), FA Cup third round, kick-off 12:15pm w/c 12: Possible Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, Chelsea (A) 17th January: Sunderland (A), Premier League, 3pm kick-off 25th January: Chelsea (A), Premier League, 2pm kick-off, live on Sky Sports 1st February: Nottingham Forest (A), Premier League, 2pm kick-off, live on Sky Sports February 2: Carabao Cup semi-final second leg possible, Chelsea (H) February 8: Brighton (A), Premier League, 2pm kick-off, live on Sky Sports February 11: Burnley (H), Premier League, 7.30pm kick-off February 14/15: FA Cup fourth round draw possible 19 February: Conference League Play-Off Round First Leg (A) 21 February: Wolves (H), Premier League, 3pm kick-off 26 February: Conference League Play-Off Round Second Leg (H) 28 February: Man United (A), Premier League, 3pm kick-off
Glassner: I love our game schedule – that’s what we want.
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner:
“We like it. Including the Carabao Cup semi-final? It would be nice if we could. So it would be easy to avoid those two games and just lose five days later, but that’s not what we’re thinking about. We’ve written this schedule and hopefully play 65 games until the Carabao final, the FA Cup final, the Conference League final and the Premier League. That’s what we want.”
“It’s February now and some players will be back. I’m hopeful so I hope AFCON doesn’t get extended until March. So this is going to be a real issue.”
“So I expect Ismail Sarr to be back, I expect Daniel Muñoz to be back in February as well, and I’m sure there will be one or two signings in January.”
“The club has been working really hard behind the scenes to get these deals over the line.
“And all of our players are healthy, and I can tell you this: We have three games in five days today, and we had some players who said they could play any game for 90 minutes.”
“I said, calm down. So this just shows the character of this team and the game today. We wanted to win, but everything else was a calculated risk that maybe it would be a draw. But everything else went according to our plan. We were able to rest some players. The only thing I don’t like is that Leeds already know their starting XI.”
