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\u201cHi Dominic,\u201d says Dave Esterby. \u201cI was just about to say, if this is the best Palace can offer after sleepwalking their way through their last few Premier League games \u2013 particularly at Bournemouth \u2013 then [they] don\u2019t deserve a thing from tonight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Mateta scores and they\u2019re alive. So, I\u2019ll just shut up…\u201d<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n 60 mins: Ratju has stayed down after a 50-50 with Mitchell leaves the Rayo Vallecano<\/a> player worse off. Perhaps his team need this delay and a period of calm to quell the Crystal Palace storm.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 58 mins: It has been a totally different game in the second half to the tepid fare we were served in the opening 45 minutes.<\/p>\n What did Glasner say in his final ever half-time team talk? Whatever it was, it\u2019s inspired his troops and then some!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 57 mins: Palace are rampant here, as Batalla sprawls to deny Mateta another golden opportunity. It could be 3-0\u2026 but somehow Rayo Vallecano<\/a> are keeping the floodgates closed \u2013 JUST.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 56 mins: Pino and Wharton stood over the free-kick. Can Palace test Batalla again?<\/p>\n Oh my goodness, the ball has hit the post multiple times! Pino\u2019s effort smacked one upright and then the other after going across the goal\u2026 then the melee to follow up saw the ball hit the woodwork again. Madness.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 54 mins: The Palace fans are having a party in the stands, as Sarr \u2013 who has taken a couple of knocks in the past minute or two \u2013 is fouled. This could be a good free-kick opportunity for someone \u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n It really was instinctive stuff from Mateta to score the rebound, with Batalla unable to parry Wharton\u2019s fierce left-footed shot to safety.<\/p>\n Palace had started the second half with more purpose, but the goal came from nowhere really. And how apt that it comes from Mateta, who nearly left the club for Milan in January \u2013 and would have done if not for a failed medical.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-0 Rayo Vallecano (Mateta, 51)<\/p>\n MATETA SCORES FOR PALACE!<\/p>\n It came from Adam Wharton\u2019s shot and it was a poacher\u2019s finish from the Frenchman, to cue bedlam in the stands.<\/p>\n Jean-Philippe Mateta celebrates in trademark fashion. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.18 EDT<\/p>\n 49 mins: Another yellow card is shown to a Vallecano player, with Unai L\u00f3pez booked for tripping Kamada.<\/p>\n A Palace passing sequence ends with Sarr slipping as he tried to drop deep to collect the ball.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 48 mins: Palace really haven\u2019t had much joy from Mu\u00f1oz\u2019s long throws so far. Is there a Plan B?<\/p>\n It\u2019s pensive stuff for Crystal Palace fans watching at The Steel Yard, London. Photograph: John Walton\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.15 EDT<\/p>\n 47 mins: Palace play their way out of trouble after Mu\u00f1oz\u2019s loose pass \u2026 good stuff from Mitchell to move the ball on quickly, almost finding Mateta. A sliding Lejeune gets it away for Rayo for a Palace throw-in.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n We\u2019re under way for the second half in Leipzig.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Should Glasner make any changes at the break? I\u2019m not sure Wharton is 100% fit, but is it worth risking him in the hope he produces a pass like the one for Mitchell in first half stoppage time? There\u2019s also Brennan Johnson on the bench, who has form in bagging the winner in a European final.<\/p>\n The players are about to re-emerge.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n And now here\u2019s a very good email summing up that dour first half, courtesy of K\u00e1ri Tulinius<\/p>\n double quotation markOn the one hand, this is a match that has lived up to the promise of a contest between the eighth best side in Spain, and the 15th best in England. On the other, the atmosphere is as tense as town in an old western as a pair of gunslingers take up position at two ends of a street. Neither set of players have flinched yet, or tried to draw their pistols.<\/p>\n Who will blink first in the second half? That\u2019s the intriguing question.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n I received this excellent email from Daniel Storey during the first half re: the rise and rise of Crystal Palace:<\/p>\n double quotation markI wonder how many fans that were in the away at Edgeley Park that famous afternoon in 2001 when Dougie Freeman saved the club from an unknown future and the nightmare drop to Division 2 (now League 1), are also in Leipzig this evening? Hopefully all of them as that really was a siding doors moment in the Eagles\u2019 history.<\/p>\n I bet if you told those Palace in Stockport that afternoon that would be playing in a European final after winning an FA Cup final within the next 25 years, they would have looked at you in disbelief and a questioned your sanity.<\/p>\n Stockport County fans: do not despair at your League One playoff final agony, perhaps you will be in a European final in 2050!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.55 EDT<\/p>\n HT: Crystal Palace 0-0 Rayo Vallecano<\/p>\n A half of few chances was defined by the one missed by Crystal Palace\u2019s left wing-back right at the end of it. Tyrick Mitchell and the Eagles will hope they get more sight of goal in the second half.<\/p>\n Vallecano have been good value, in fairness, very tidy in possession and largely solid in defence. There really hasn\u2019t been much to separate the teams. Plenty of thinking for both managers to do during the break.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Before that, I rated the Alem\u00e3o chance as the best opportunity of the game\u2026 but Mitchell will surely be ruminating on that when the teams head in for half-time.<\/p>\n The camera pans to a few Palace fans in the ground with hands over faces. Yikes.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 mins+2: Oh my, it should be 1-0 Palace!<\/p>\n It all suddenly got quite stretched and Palace have gone agonisingly close to clinching the lead, with Tyrick Mitchell heading wide from point-blank range. What a cross from Wharton it was to pick out the wing-back. Glasner was almost running off to celebrate.<\/p>\n Crystal Palace\u2019s Tyrick Mitchell heads at goal. Photograph: Lisi Niesner\/ReutersMitchell rues putting his header the wrong side of the upright. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.54 EDT<\/p>\n We\u2019ll have four minutes added on to the end of this first half. As it stands, it will not live too long in the memory.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not quite been Tottenham v Manchester United in the Europa League final a year ago, but it\u2019s not been much better.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 44 mins: The referee hasn\u2019t helped, by the way, doing little to prevent the stop-start nature of this game. Everything has been a foul.<\/p>\n A scrappy Palace attack ends with Kamada having a pot-shot but the officials spotted an infringement in the buildup. It looked like handball from Mu\u00f1oz.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 41 mins: The half is petering out a bit now.<\/p>\n But there will likely be a fair amount of added time. Wharton goes into the book for a late one on Palazon, for which he can have few complaints.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 40 mins: Unai L\u00f3pez sends a shot just wide of the post, quite an elegant effort actually with the side of his right foot, opening up his body. Palace have looked a bit sloppy since the restart.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n We\u2019re now back under way. Hopefully everyone involved in the stands is OK.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 38 mins: A number of stewards are now attending what we\u2019re being told is a medical emergency in the stadium. The Rayo Vallecano<\/a> players appear to be saying they don\u2019t want to restart the game, despite the referee\u2019s instructions. A bit of confusion here.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Another delay now\u2026 it looks like someone in the stands may need urgent attention.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 35 mins: Wharton has been barged to the ground twice in the past minute or two and on neither occasion did he get the decision from referee Maurizio Mariani. The English midfielder is starting to vent his frustration to the officials.<\/p>\n Vallecano definitely have a plan to get physical with Wharton, trying to unsettle him.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 33 mins: Sarr gets a bit of attention from the physios but it looks like he\u2019ll be fine.<\/p>\n Palace have to start creating a bit more, as Glasner uses this delay to communicate a message or two to his men.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 32 mins: Riad steps in at the apt moment \u2013 once again \u2013 but Palace are having trouble working that opportunity in the final third. Mateta really isn\u2019t getting much space, with Lejeune and Ciss staying ultra-tight to the Eagles\u2019 centre-forward.<\/p>\n Sarr is down with an apparent injury. This doesn\u2019t look great.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 30 mins: In fact, whatever the result tonight I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see one or two of these Vallecano players in the Premier League at some point in the near future.<\/p>\n Palace having to do a bit of defending at present.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 28 mins: Yeah, this isn\u2019t proving the straightforward Crystal Palace<\/a> victory that so many people predicted \u2026 it\u2019s tight. Very tight.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 27 mins: Nice stuff from Kamada, dovetailing with Wharton and then his wing-backs, to keep things ticking for Palace, looking to pick the lock in the Vallecano defence.<\/p>\n The cross from the right flank ends up hitting Mitchell and bouncing harmlessly wide.<\/p>\n