It was worth the wait for Crystal Palace. Denied what the club regarded as their rightful place in the Europa League last season, Pierre Sage’s side made the perfect debut in the competition by brushing aside Lech Poznan, a victory that will take some of the heat off their new manager.
Sage has big shoes to fill in replacing Oliver Glasner, who won three trophies in 12 months before his departure, and there had been some talk of disquiet behind the scenes following the Frenchman’s decision to drop the teenager Jaydee Canvot at the weekend. Palace now face a testing trip to face in-form Leeds on Sunday, having conceded 11 goals from their opening four Premier League matches.
On this evidence, the visitors gave them a considerable helping hand well before Radoslaw Murawski was sent off late on for a reckless foul on Canvot. The result was never really in doubt after Poznan gifted Yéremy Pino a goal direct from their own throw-in, Terry Yegbe’s calamitous delivery going straight to the feet of the Spanish World Cup winner. Chris Richards headed in a deep corner from Adam Wharton, and Jørgen Strand Larsen dispatched a penalty after Pino was brought down by Murawski, making the points safe by half-time. Eddie Nketiah, off the bench, rounded off the comfortable win with a late fourth with a minute remaining.
So quickly have things moved on in south London that Palace did not even have the chance to stage a parade to celebrate their Conference League triumph last season. After a difficult start to the new campaign, the captain, Dean Henderson, had urged supporters to “park the negativity” when he signed a contract extension on Wednesday. The England goalkeeper is expected to be unavailable for a few weeks because of a foot injury, and Palace included the 16-year-old prospect Lucca Benetton on their bench alongside the returning Ismaïla Sarr.
Lech’s European campaign began on 21 July, and the Polish champions were backed by a vociferous travelling support. They almost had a goal to celebrate inside the opening two minutes when their captain, Mikael Ishak, fluffed his lines with Walter Benítez’s goal gaping, exposing Palace’s defensive frailties. As well as the noise around Sage following Saturday’s defeat to Ipswich, there have been concerns about the atmosphere at Selhurst Park after the disbanding of the influential supporters’ group the Holmesdale Fanatics. There could have been another goal in spectacular fashion from Yegbe into his own net just before half-time, but the assistant flagged for offside — the moment Poznan’s fans chose to perform the dance they have made famous, turning their backs on a poor first-half display.
They amused themselves in the second half by letting off a series of flares, just as Pino came close to adding his second of the night, only to be denied by a timely block on the line after Strand Larsen had fired over from the edge of the area. Sarr’s first appearance of the season was greeted with the odd boo after his hopes of a move to Liverpool were dashed in the transfer window, though the reception for the Senegal forward was largely positive. It was a night Palace will hope can kickstart their campaign under Sage.