Crystal Palace ground out a goalless draw at Fredrikstad in Norway on Thursday to scrape through their UEFA Conference League playoff 1-0 on aggregate.
While the victory was narrow and the performance unimpressive, the Norwegians rarely threatened to cut short the London club’s first-ever European campaign.
“It is a huge achievement to go into the group stage,” Palace manager Oliver Glasner told British broadcaster Channel 5.
In a game of few chances on an artificial pitch, Jean-Philippe Mateta, who scored the only goal of the first leg, went close twice for Palace. The hosts did not manage a shot on target.
“Against an opposition which is not easy to play, we had to accept it and the players did well and defended the box excellently,” said Glasner.
“We know we have to and can play better in possession. We lost too many balls too easily.”
The lacklustre draw stretched Palace’s unbeaten run to 13 competitive matches, dating back to April 16 when they lost 5-0 to Newcastle in the Premier League.
Palace lost one of their stars Eberechi Eze in a high-priced deal that meant he missed the first leg before exiting the club. But centre back Marc Guehi, reportedly being eyed by Liverpool, started both matches and captained the team.
On his 51st birthday, Glasner made only three changes from the team that drew with Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday.
“I told everyone at the club I didn’t want to talk about transfers today,” said Glasner. “Our job is to be successful going into the group stage. I cannot be deflecting to this transfer noise.”
Palace, the English FA Cup winners, are playing in the Conference League after being demoted from the Europa League by UEFA to avoid a meeting with Lyon because American business man John Textor held stakes in both clubs earlier this year.
On a busy night in the competition, English striker Nathan Butler-Oyedeji scored the only goal in first-half added time as Lausanne won 1-0 in Istanbul to eliminate Besiktas 2-1 on aggregate.
The home team played the second half with 10 men after defender Felix Uduokhai was sent off in the 46th minute for a foul on Brandon Soppy.
AZ Alkmaar cruised through 6-1 on aggregate as they won 4-1 at home against Levski Sofia.
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Photo: Sebastian Frej/Getty Images
