Europa Conference League: Palace, Forest and De Gea headlines
Thursday’s action across the europa conference league and Europa League produced decisive results: Crystal Palace won 2-0 against Zrinjski to progress 3-1 on aggregate, while Nottingham Forest lost 1-2 at home to Fenerbahce but advanced 4-2 on aggregate. The evening also saw David de Gea almost cost Fiorentina with a goalkeeping howler in their tie with Jagiellonia Bialystok.
Europa Conference League: Palace progress
Crystal Palace moved into the last 16 of the Europa Conference League after a 2-0 victory over Zrinjski at Selhurst Park, completing a 3-1 aggregate win following last week’s 1-1 draw in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Maxence Lacroix opened the scoring in the 36th minute, heading in from five yards out after an excellent delivery from Adam Wharton from a free-kick close to the left touchline. Palace, competing in their first season of European football, never looked in danger and sealed the tie when Evann Guessand struck a hard, low effort in the second minute of stoppage time.
Forest lose to Fenerbahce
Matches involving English clubs produced mixed fortunes. Nottm Forest were beaten 1-2 by Fenerbahce on the night, with the tie finishing Nottingham Forest 1-2 Fenerbahce (4-2 agg). An Akturkoglu double had given the Turkish side hope before Hudson-Odoi made the tie safe. The match prompt reaction from former players and the Nottingham Forest manager.
Reactions from Keown and Pereira
Martin Keown, identified as a former Arsenal defender, said: "The manager acted decisively at half-time, but it's a shame that he had to do that because he would have expected more from the starters. In the end, you saw the quality. Ola Aina was magnificent and showed his importance. They have got back on track and need to keep that momentum. It is important the manager starts to set the standards. "
Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira said: "When you change half of the team it is not easy to keep the level. It was my responsibility because we have an important game in three days. I decided to recover some players to have energy in the next game, but it is not easy when you change a lot. We conceded a goal and we lost the confidence to play. It was difficult for me to do four subs at the same time but I spoke to the players and said it was my decision and we needed to do it because the game came into a dangerous situation for us. They scored the second but then we started to play to our level. We scored. This is important to keep in our minds, Europa League is not easy. I know Fenerbahce very well and they came here to fight for the result. For me I know if you change five players you don't know what will happen. If we scored first maybe we get the confidence and we play with five new players on the pitch. With stress and pressure it was difficult for them to be themselves because they are not playing every match. In the end we are in the competition. In the second half we controlled the game and result, let's move forward. "
Andy Reid, described as a former Spurs midfielder, was also noted among the reactions.
De Gea howler almost costly
Attention also turned to a separate Conference match in which David de Gea almost cost Fiorentina after committing a howler in an "incredible" UEFA Conference League tie against Jagiellonia Bialystok. The incident was highlighted as a near-mistake that nearly altered Fiorentina’s night in that competition.
Celtic and wider notes
Celtic went out despite a historic win in Stuttgart. Other context from the nights noted that the draw for the last 16 starts at 12: 00 GMT tomorrow. Names credited with coverage or involvement on the night included Gary Rose, Keifer MacDonald and Steve Sutcliffe.
Palace will now face either Mainz from Germany or Larnaca from Cyprus over two legs, with the first game at Selhurst Park on Thursday, 12 March, followed by the away match a week later. Palace’s run comes in a turbulent season: after beating Manchester City 1-0 to win the FA Cup in May — the club's first major trophy — they followed that by beating Liverpool on penalties to win the Community Shield. Off the pitch, the club were unsuccessful in a legal attempt to stay in the Europa League and were demoted to the Conference League after being in breach of multi-club ownership rules. Eberechi Eze joined Arsenal and captain Marc Guehi almost moved to Liverpool, but that deal fell apart because Palace could not sort out a replacement. Palace’s small squad has felt the burden of a heavy fixture list; the Zrinjski match was their 43rd of the season, with a further 11 Premier League matches to come and a potential seven more in the Conference League.
That summarises the full sequence of events, results, quotes and reactions from the evening’s Europa and conference fixtures.
