Wasteful Palace booed off after first-leg draw with stubborn Larnaca
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Detailed Report
Crystal Palace vs AEK Larnaca. UEFA Conference League Round of 16.
8:00pm, Thursday 12th March 2026.
Selhurst Park.
Match report as Evann Guessand, Tyrick Mitchell and Chris Richards miss fine chances for Crystal Palace to beat AEK Larnaca in Conference League last-16 first leg; Eagles booed off while Jean-Philippe Mateta jeered by sections of home crowd on return
Football Journalist @Ronnabe
Thursday 12 March 2026 22:05, UK
Evann Guessand, Tyrick Mitchell and Chris Richards squandered fine chances as an otherwise laboured Crystal Palace performance saw them booed off after a 0-0 last-16 first-leg draw with Larnaca at Selhurst Park.
Strong winds and driving rain did little to help the Eagles' cause but neither did Oliver Glasner's side. Brennan Johnson's deployment in an experimental hybrid wing-back role backfired in the absence of Daniel Munoz - while Jean-Philippe Mateta was also jeered from sections of the crowd on his first appearance since a failed Deadline Day move to Milan.
It all could have been different had Guessand turned home Jorgen Strand Larsen's eighth-minute cross but once he fired straight at Zlatan Alomerovic, it took Palace another 34 minutes to fashion a second chance of note.
Daichi Kamada's scuffed shot caught out the visiting defence and found the late run of Mitchell, whose first-time finish needed to be higher and was saved by Alomerovic's outstretched leg.
Palace upped their game briefly at the start of the second period and fashioned a number of half-chances, before Richards headed Johnson's corner over from barely six yards.
Larnaca almost gave new head coach Javi Rosada a dream debut in the dugout in the dying moments, when an Enzo Cabrera header was deflected just wide by Richards.
More to follow....
Match stats
How the teams lined up
Crystal Palace news and transfer latest
Crystal Palace fixtures
Round of 16 second legs: March 19Quarter-finals: April 9 and 16Semi-finals: April 30 and May 7Final: May 27 [Red Bull Arena, Leipzig]
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