Crystal Palace’s Ismaïla Sarr spells danger for AZ to spare Mateta’s blushes

Oliver Glasner spent the week arguing that Crystal Palace’s fixture congestion has made the FA Cup holders victims of their own success. So he will have been mightily relieved with the ease that his side dispatched AZ as an outstanding performance from Ismaïla Sarr reignited their Conference League campaign.

The Senegal forward scored twice after Maxence Lacroix had given Palace the lead, even if Jean-Philppe Mateta endured one of his off-nights in front of goal as he missed an early penalty and several other gilt-edged chances. But with a testing trip to face Strasbourg – who are owned by the same company as Chelsea and rated with Palace as one of the favourites to win this competition – in their next match, only victory here would have sufficed and they showed a growing maturity given their inexperience at this level to get past youthful but talented opponents.

After being demoted to this competition from the Europa League by Uefa in the summer, Palace’s sense of injustice has been fuelled by this week’s fiasco over the scheduling of their Carabao Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. The potential implications of having to play five matches in 11 days in December due to that and their European commitments made this game even more important to their prospects of reaching the knockout stages after a surprise home defeat to the Cypriot side Lanarca last time out. With that in mind, Glasner made only one change from Palace’s win over Brentford on Saturday as Will Hughes replaced Daichi Kamada in midfield, while Adam Wharton was back on the bench after illness.

AZ’s productive academy has made them European regulars in recent years, although they were knocked out by Tottenham in the last-16 of the Europa League in March after winning the first leg at home. Approximately 1,600 of their supporters had marched through Croydon town centre three hours before kick-off, with the former Spurs striker Troy Parrott leading the line for the Dutch side who appeared more intent on attacking than Palace’s previous opponents in this competition.

Kees Smit – a flame-haired midfielder who was voted player of the tournament at the European Under-19 Championships in the summer – impressed in the opening stages before Palace seized control. A volley from Sarr that emanated from a long Jefferson Lerma throw struck the post and it was the Senegal forward who won a penalty moments later after being taken out by the AZ goalkeeper Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro. The video assistant referee had to overturn an incorrect offside call in the buildup but Mateta could not take advantage as his weak penalty was easily saved.

Owusu-Oduro needed to stretch to tip Sarr’s header on to the post two minutes later before Hughes hit the crossbar on the follow-up with a delicious dipping volley. A technical delay with the VAR meant Palace were forced to wait even longer for confirmation they had finally taken the lead. Lacroix lashed a shot into the net after it fell perfectly to his feet from Marc Guéhi’s cushioned header after another long throw, with the powers that be eventually deciding the offside flag had again gone up incorrectly. Hughes has not scored for Palace since May 2023 but clearly fancied his chances as a rasping drive forced Owusu-Oduro into another save. Sarr made it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time when another set piece caused chaos in the AZ penalty area after Guéhi won the initial header.

Smit served a warning that the visitors were still a threat when he was inches away from scoring with a powerful effort from distance at the start of the second half. Palace were guilty of surrendering possession high up the pitch to allow AZ to pull one back, with the captain Sven Mijnans sweeping home after Daniel Muñoz’s poor clearance. But a calm finish from Sarr restored the two-goal advantage within seconds after Mateta did brilliantly to play him through, only for the Frenchman to fluff his lines when a similar opportunity presented itself to him moments later.

Sven Mijnans rallies the visiting supporters after pulling one back. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images/Reuters

Sarr looked disappointed to be substituted with 25 minutes to go with Sunday’s meeting with Brighton on the horizon as Wharton was given a run out and Daichi Kamada had a late goal ruled out for offside. Isak Jensen could have made it a tense finish but somehow he headed wide from two yards out in injury-time. Palace’s biggest test as the season progresses is likely to be how they cope with the incessant schedule of playing twice a week given Glasner’s reluctance to rotate his first choice side. But he will hope that this win will go a long way towards helping to seal a place in the knockout stages of this competition before their nightmare December begins.