Postpublished at 21:45 BST 17 September
Crystal Palace 3-0 Lech Poznan
Another Walter Benitez save to deny Luis Palma. Palace have become very sloppy at the back. Pierre Sage won't be too impressed at this.

By winning the 2025-26 Conference League, Crystal Palace became the first team to win a major European trophy in their debut campaign since KV Mechelen lifted the 1987-88 Cup Winners' Cup
Crystal Palace enjoyed a dream Europa League debut with a comfortable victory against Polish champions Lech Poznan.
The Eagles won the Conference League last season and made the step up a tier in Europe look easy with this win at Selhurst Park.
Their first goal was a gift as a poor throw by the visitors was pounced upon by Yeremy Pino just outside the box and he took a couple of touches before firing into the net.
Lech Poznan had chances to equalise but instead it was Palace who increased their lead with just their second shot on target, Chris Richards heading in from Adam Wharton's corner.
It got even better for Palace 11 minutes before the break when they were awarded a penalty when Radoslaw Murawski brought down Pino. Jorgen Strand Larsen stepped up to confidently convert his fourth goal in his past three games.
The damage was all done in the dominant first-half display by Crystal Palace, and while the visitors created some opportunities after the break the Eagles were never in danger of being victims of a comeback.
Instead, Palace added a fourth in the 89th minute when Eddie Nketiah tucked a neat finish into the bottom corner, shortly after Murawski was sent off after receiving a second booking for a foul.
It has been a memorable couple of years for Palace fans with their stunning FA Cup win two seasons ago followed by European glory in the Conference League.
The Europa League, however, marks a step up in quality and supporters will have been cautiously optimistic about how their team would handle it.
On this showing they will have every reason to believe their side can at least reach the knockout stage, though they were helped out by a Lech Poznan side that did themselves no favours.
Terry Yegbe's throw for Palace's opener was a dreadful error of judgement as he simply gifted the ball to Pino, who gratefully waltzed into the area to score.
They never really recovered from that and only the offside flag spared further blushes when Yegbe launched a bizarre attempted clearance into his own net from about 35 yards.
To their credit, the visiting supporters never gave up chanting throughout the second half, even if they had no goal to celebrate, as instead Palace added a late fourth to round off a win that will give them much-needed confidence after a difficult start to the Premier League season, losing three out of four games.
There was one other significant moment for Palace in the second half as Ismaila Sarr came on for his first appearance of the season.
A proposed move to Liverpool collapsed late in the transfer window, and while his return to action was generally well received, there were some boos among the cheers.
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| |
3 Sparta Prague | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
|
4 Beşiktaş | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
|
5 Union Saint-Gilloise | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
|
6 Ferencváros | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|
7 Benfica | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| |
9 OFI Crete | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| |
12 Torreense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
|
13 Olympiakos | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
|
14 Red Bull Salzburg | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
|
15 Omonia Nicosia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| |
17 Dinamo Zagreb | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
18 Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| |
20 Sturm Graz | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
21 Jagiellonia Białystok | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
|
22 Anderlecht | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
|
23 Lillestrøm | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| |
25 AZ Alkmaar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
|
26 Celta Vigo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
|
27 Levski Sofia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
| |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| |
30 Celje | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 0 |
| |
33 Ararat-Armenia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 0 |
|
34 Viktoria Plzeň | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
|
35 Lech Poznań | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
|
36 NEC Nijmegen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 0 |
|
Manager: Pierre Sage
Formation: 3 - 4 - 3
Manager: Niels Frederiksen
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Pierre Sage
Formation: 3 - 4 - 3
Manager: Niels Frederiksen
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
UEFA Europa League
All competitions
The reigning UEFA Conference League holders have won their first major European game in the following campaign in just one of four seasons (L3), with West Ham United beating Backa Topola in the 2023-24 UEFA Europa League.
Lech Poznań have lost three of their four meetings with English opposition in European competition but did win their most recent, 3-1 at home to Manchester City in the 2010-11 UEFA Europa League group stage.
Winning the 2025-26 UEFA Conference League, Crystal Palace became the first team win a major European trophy in their debut campaign since KV Mechelen in 1987-88 (Cup Winners’ Cup) – the Eagles went unbeaten in their final six home matches (W4 D2), after losing their first to AEK Larnaca.
Lech Poznań have qualified for major European competition in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1982-83 to 1985-86 – the Polish side lost five of six group games in their most recent UEFA Europa League campaign in 2020-21.
Mikael Ishak has scored 18 goals in 28 major European appearances for Lech Poznań, three times as many as any other player in the club’s history (Michal Skóras, 6). That includes five in six appearances in the UEFA Europa League in the 2020-21 campaign.