Crystal Palace on Thursday launched their first full venture into European soccer with a 2-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv in Poland in the UEFA Conference League.
Colombian wingback Daniel Munoz’s brilliant towering header in the first half put Palace ahead in Lublin, where Dynamo are playing their home games in Europe this season because of the war in Ukraine.
Eddie Nketiah grabbed a second just before the hour, stabbing in another cross from the excellent Yeremy Pino, as Palace set a new club record run of 19 matches unbeaten, but Borna Sosa picked up two yellow cards in quick succession to leave Palace with 10 men for the final 15 minutes.
Photo: EPA
“I’m proud that we could start the Conference League away against a very good opponent. I don’t think about this [unbeaten] run, because it has already happened, so for me it is important what comes next,” Palace head coach Oliver Glasner said.
“We don’t prefer any competition,” he said. “We always want to win the next game, and I just told the players now after the game: ‘Congratulations for this good start.’”
Palace qualified for Europe after beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final last season, but were demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League after breaching multi-club ownership rules.
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