‘The King is dead, long live the King,” Steve Parish mused, when asked about the imminent departure of Crystal Palace’s talismanic forward, Eberechi Eze. And yet, by the end of a night of heightened emotion and historic landmarks, it felt as though the edifice may be starting to crumble at Selhurst Park.
In truth, were it not for some errant finishing, and Eze’s absence before a £60million move to Arsenal, Palace would have had a far more comfortable cushion than the 1-0 scoreline they take into next week’s Conference League qualification second leg against the Norwegian side Fredrikstad.
Yet with Marc Guehi a target for Liverpool and Palace moving glacially to bring in players to bolster Oliver Glasner’s squad for the European adventure they hope still lies in wait, the Palace manager was in no mood to pull any punches when he sat down before reporters at full-time.
Glasner said before kick-off that Eze withdrew on Thursday morning
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“I just know if Marc leaves, and is not available for Fredrikstad, we would have big problems,” said Glasner, who is unable to register new players before Thursday’s visit to Norway. “From my side, he has to stay.
“We played with Jefferson Lerma in the back today. He’s a midfield player. We have no centre backs available at the moment, and if Marc leaves, OK, maybe I will try my boots, because I was a centre back and this could be a good option. I will think about it.
“We are very, very late — it’s ten days [in the transfer market] to go to find the right replacements. Again, I think we could have done much better than we did. It’s no criticism. It’s just telling facts. Today, we had 17 outfield players available, one from the academy, two players we already told that they should leave the club. So that means we have 14.
Captain Guehi, who has drawn glances from Liverpool
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“We have to act. We need this. And this is Crystal Palace’s future. We need to add not numbers. We need the right players. The profile is defined for months. It’s not surprising for everyone that Ebs [Eze] left. We knew that the chance is very high that this will happen, and that we missed [the chance] to replace him early enough is completely our fault and nobody else’s.”
Steve Parish, speaking on Channel 5 after the game, appeared to take a slightly different view on Guehi’s future and the state of play at Palace with ten days of the transfer window remaining. “If Marc wants to sign a contract then he can stay,” Parish said of Guehi, who has 12 months left on his deal.
“It is a difficult situation. Every club like us, and particularly if you’re in Europe, the financial rules are a lot tighter than in the Premier League. Players leaving on a free is not ideal. We will have to look at it over the next [ten] days.”
Asked if he was growing disheartened by Palace’s failure to prepare for another historic season, Glasner said: “I think it’s better I don’t talk too much about it. Because, you know, I start to get… And it’s better not always saying what you are feeling and what you’re thinking. So let’s talk about this win. First European game for Crystal Palace. First win, clean sheet, going to Norway after hopefully winning against Nottingham [Forest on Sunday]. And again, this group, I trust them. They will be ready on Sunday. And they will fight again for winning for our fans, for this club.”
It was Jean-Philippe Mateta’s 54th minute header that gave Palace the advantage heading into next week’s Conference League qualification second leg, which will be played on Fredrikstad’s artificial surface. Daniel Munoz came closest to doubling Palace’s advantage, heading against the post from close range with 12 of the 90 minutes remaining. But how Palace could have done with Eze — so often the hero of the hour — as Glasner’s side struggled to unlock a stubborn defence.
The draw on August 29 should still have Palace’s name in it, but there is work to be done to on Thursday before the Austrian can begin to plan an assault on a competition that Palace would be favourites to win. Glasner knows how to navigate the continent, of course, having tasted glory with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League. But the growing fear is that the ambition of a manager who secured Palace’s first piece of major silverware last season but has only 12 months remaining on his contract is not coming close to being matched by the club.
New signing Sosa replaced Mitchell
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Palace have endured quite a summer of course — demotion from Europa League to Conference League, owning to a breach of Uefa’s multi-club ownership rules, fiery protests and a failed appeal against the judgment — and news of Eze’s imminent exit added further to the bittersweet feeling around the club before kick-off.
Parish, writing in his column in the match-day programme, urged the whole club to “look forward” and Selhurst was throbbing with energy as the players emerged from the tunnel. The Conference League anthem was roundly booed. There was a throaty rendition of “F*** Uefa, f*** Marinakis.”
The visitors were organised and defended manfully in the first half, with Mateta’s strike against the post the closest Palace came to forcing a breakthrough. Fredrikstad may be the second most successful team in Norwegian football, and once famously shocked the Dutch giants Ajax in a European preliminary round in the early 1960s, but that is also when they won the last of their nine domestic league titles. Last season’s Norwegian Cup triumph, against Molde, earned Andreas Hagen’s side a crack at Europe for the first time in 15 years and Palace should still go through on Thursday.
The visitor’s 20-year-old goalkeeper, Martin Borsheim, repelled efforts by Adam Wharton and Ismaila Sarr, among others, before the break. When Palace’s breakthrough finally arrived it was because Fredrikstad finally failed to properly clear one of a series of Borna Sosa long throws. Will Hughes saw a volley blocked and, from a second bite at the cherry, Mateta reacted fastest to divert the ball past the helpless goalkeeper with a smart header. “Very happy to be the first player for Palace to score in the European Cup,” Mateta said.
Palace probed for the goals that would give them a cushion in Norway: Sosa blazed over the bar Guehi fluffed a shot from seven yards. Fredrikstad had a glorious chance to level in the 93rd minute, when Henrik Skogvold was released down the left but the substitute dragged wide of Dean Henderson’s goal.
Crystal Palace: (3-4-2-1): D Henderson 6 — J Lerma 6, M Lacroix 6, M Guehi 6 — D Munoz 6, A Wharton 7, W Hughes 7, B Sosa 7 — I Sarr 7, J Devenny 6 (O Edouard 69, 5) — J Mateta 7.
Fredrikstad (3-5-2): M Borsheim 7 — S Owusu 5 (S. Kvile 76), U Fredriksen 6, M Woledzi 6 — D Eid 6, P Metcalfe 6, L Owusu 6 (R Shein 83), S Sorlokk 6 (H Skogvold 64, 5), S Molde 6 — O Ohlenschlæger 5 (J Bjartalío 76), E Holten 5 (J Nuñez 64, 5). Booked Fredriksen, Eid.
Referee A Papapetrou Attendance 23,013