Right when they needed them, Crystal Palace‘s players stepped up as Oliver Glasner‘s side kept their European dream alive on a huge night at Selhurst Park.
Maxence Lacroix’s first-half header looked to have been decisive for Palace, but after some nervy moments, Evann Guessand confirmed the victory in injury-time to knock out their plucky Bosnian opponents Zrinjski Mostar.
‘It was a good and important win,’ Glasner said. ‘We learned the lessons from the away leg, controlled the game and waited for the moments.
‘Not everything is perfect, but we can see the players are feeling better in the way we are playing.’
There was no doubt this was the biggest night of the Eagles’ season given the way their campaign has started to unravel since Glasner announced in January he would be leaving this summer.
2025-26 had promised so much, but an end to the European journey in February, regardless of the acrimony that has followed the Austrian in recent weeks, would’ve been a disaster.
Crystal Palace dispatched Zrinjski Mostar 2-0 at Selhurst Park to reach the UEFA Conference League last 16
Evann Guessand’s 93rd-minute strike followed Maxence Lacroix’s first-half header
It is easy to forget that it is just over two months since Palace, not long off a club record unbeaten run, were in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and about to enter the FA Cup as holders, but such has been the collapse in their form that this felt enormous.
That jeopardy was added to by Zrinjski manager Igor Stimac, once of West Ham and Derby.
At his pre-match press conference, he called out Palace’s board for a ‘lack of ambition’, spoke about their weaknesses, and expressed a desire to add to his own history against the club. Stimac was at Derby when they beat the Eagles to gain promotion to the Premier League in 1996.
Despite the recent chaos that has engulfed Palace and the breakdown in relationship between the fans and Glasner as a result of his repeated public outbursts, the home supporters roared their side on from before kick-off and this was a night where harmony returned to Selhurst Park.
‘I’m always honest,’ the Austrian added when pressed on his recent words. ‘I can’t do it differently.
‘If I feel something I say it and then I have to take the s***storm that follows. Hopefully everybody knows what I’m saying is for the success of Crystal Palace. Tonight the support was great.’
Palace had won just two of their last 16 matches in all competitions heading into this clash – including a dire performance in last week’s 1-1 draw in Bosnia – yet the energy and intensity that had been lacking during that run was back in the first half.
Much of their European campaign has been hampered by a failure to break down low blocks, but here they zipped the ball around and pressed with intent.
It was also notable how much more direct they were in their play and Jorgen Strand Larsen, Daichi Kamada and Guessand all went close early on.
Zrinjski were dogged, and Stimac’s side used all the tricks they could to slow Palace down and frustrate them.
Yet it was Adam Wharton, one of many players to have struggled during the recent run, who whipped in a delightful free kick for Lacroix, the unsung hero of this side, to head home powerfully.
The atmosphere ramped up a notch and the question was whether the Eagles could capitalise, but Glasner’s side squandered a host of opportunities and the tension ramped up.
It almost cost them when Tomi Juric agonisingly headed wide for Zrinjski in injury time, although that left the stage for Guessand to settle things after good link-up play with Brennan Johnson as Palace secured their passage to the last-16.
‘Crystal Palace deserved to go through,’ Stimac said. ‘They played better football in both games.’