Palace claim historic European win despite red card

Daniel Munoz became Crystal Palace's first scorer in major European competition

Crystal Palace continued their impressive start to the season with a new club record as they opened their Conference League campaign with a comfortable victory against Dynamo Kyiv in Poland.

Daniel Munoz's looping header from Yeremy Pino's back-post cross put them on their way to success in their first ever game in the main phase of a European competition.

Substitute Eddie Nketiah doubled Palace's advantage just before the hour mark with a sharp close-range finish after a wonderful bit of skill and incisive delivery from Pino on the left.

That sent around 3,500 travelling supporters into raptures and not even the dismissal of Croatian full-back Borna Sosa - for two yellow cards carelessly collected in a three-minute period - in the 76th minute could spoil their party.

By full-time they were not only celebrating a historic first away win in Europe, but breaking a club mark, set back in 1969, by extending their unbeaten run to 19 matches across all competitions.

It was no more than Oliver Glasner's side deserved against opponents who, in recent times, have struggled to live up to their rich European pedigree of previous decades.

Nketiah might have had two had he not just strayed offside to collect Adam Wharton's pass, just moments before his effort that did count. Daichi Kamada's first-half run also deserved more than a tame finish that ended with an easy save for Kiev keeper Ruslan Neshcheret.

The only disappointment was Sosa's red card, picking up quick bookings for a late challenge on Shola Ogundana and then needlessly barging over Oleksandr Tymchyk.

Analysis: Fluent Eagles justify favourites tag

Having been demoted from the Europa League after Uefa deemed the Eagles had breached multi-club ownership rules, Glasner's side edged past Fredrikstad in a qualifying round.

However, on a night when the road to Leipzig got under way in earnest, they delivered an assured display at Lublin Arena, which has hosted the Ukrainian side's home matches in Europe since Russia's invasion of their country in 2022.

Instead of looking like novices on their first European campaign, Palace underlined their status as one of the favourites to lift this trophy - even without Jean-Philippe Mateta in the second period.

The France forward would ideally have hoped to toast his first call-up to his national team squad with a goal, yet his absence after a half-time withdrawal was hardly felt.

If anything, Palace went from functional to fluent in the second period with England midfielder Wharton's influence growing and summer signing Pino impressive in possession.

And having scored the dramatic late winner against Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday that has put them in third place, there was also another crucial contribution off the bench from Nketiah after replacing Mateta.

What's next?

Crystal Palace are back in action on Sunday when they visit Everton in the Premier League (14:00 BST).