No one would expect that Crystal Palace wouldn’t come up with a win against AEK Larnaca from the Cypriot First Division.
It looked like Crystal Palace’s game as they were on the front foot from the first whistle.
Mateta, Sarr, and Nketiah all had decent opportunities to give Crystal Palace the lead but all were wayward efforts that did not even trouble the Larnaca goalkeeper.
The breakthrough for the visitors came just five minutes into the second half when Riad Bajić slotted past Dean Henderson after Jayden Canvot’s pass was intercepted.
It was still Palace with the momentum but Larnaca were determined to get this win against an in-form Palace side.
Despite the shots taken by Crystal Palace (13 shots) only 1 was on target and Larnaca managed 2 shots on target.
Possession wise Palace was everywhere with 63% of the possession and 511 passes made.
This loss puts Crystal Palace 16th in the Conference League table – a team many consider favorites to lift the trophy – but then it is still too soon to judge as there will be other chances for them to come out top.
