Stuffy Larnaca frustrate Eagles in dull Europa Conference League clash

Where Eagles Fly: Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace 0 AEK Larnaca 0

‘Back so soon?’

That was the rhetorical question posed in the Crystal Palace match programme ahead of their Europa Conference League meeting with AEK Larnaca.

The Cypriot side hoped for a repeat of their 1-0 win at Selhurst Park back in October in the same competition’s league phase. On this particular occasion though, the margins for error were slim, in the first of a two-legged tie. Indeed, Crystal Palace’s inability to break down a stuffy opponent will be the cause of much consternation around SE25.

A scoreless draw to take to Cyprus is not the worst fate. However the Eagles lacked punch and paid the price, despite a glut of possession. A story Crystal Palace fans have heard before this term.

Key performers, such as Ismaila Sarr and Brennan Johnson spent the evening on the Palace periphery, another frustration for the manager. The killer instinct utterly lacking across a bare bill of fare, with a substantial number of fans booing at the final whistle.

Larnaca's latest visit to south London included a first game in charge for Javi Rozafa. The Spaniard was appointed just three days ago, with a coaching career to date with Real Oviedo, Racing Santander and, most recently, Cypriot team Krasava ENY Ypsonas.

With just one training session behind him, it was, on paper, an ominous test for Rozafa. Yet with a difficult week for English Premier League clubs in Europe, with defeats for the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, hope was in the air for the ‘Yellow-Greens’. Curiously, not only did Larnaca not possess a single Greek-Cypriot in their starting line-up, but ten of their players were over the age of thirty. A record in Europan football, perhaps?

Resplendent in a luminous yellow and green kit, a sight for the eyes, Larnaca were not the first Euro opponent to adopt a safety first routine at Palace this season. Teams such as Finland’s KuPS and Zrinjski from Bosnia and Herzegovina were also cautious in the capital with varying degrees of success.

Predictably, Palace – one of the favourites to win the Conference League - were assertive from the beginning of the tie. In the eighth minute, Larnaca keeper Zlatan Alomerovic made an instinctive block with his body from Evann Guessand’s shot from a few yards out – a stop more of good fortune than intent. That really was as good as it got for the Eagles.

Wet and blustery conditions undoubtedly contributed to the dearth of crispness and fluency, as Palace hoped for an agreeable cushion to take to Cyprus for the second leg in a week’s time. Another bonus was a return to manager Oliver Glasner’s squad for fit-again Jean-Philippe Mateta, who was on the substitutes’ bench.

The Conference League is proving to be a different type of challenge for Crystal Palace. Most opponents are clearly beneath the level of domestic opposition and, tactically, the Londoners have to adopt an alternative approach. While the Eagles were so impressive and enterprising in their emphatic 3-1 win at Tottenham last weekend, Larnaca and others have tended to sit in and soak up pressure – which requires a certain level of patience from Palace fans.

Consequently, with a lack of genuine activity around either goalmouth, other than a smart save by Alomerovic at the feet of Tyrick Mitchell, it was no surprise that the sides were scoreless at the break. Palace simply could not open up the Cypriots.

Brennan Johnson and Adam Wharton were the best outlets of pressure on each flank for the hosts, who began the second half with some vigour. Still, Jorgen Strand-Larsen, impressive of late, found himself well-policed by a bank of up to five Larnaca defenders. And a sclaff over the crossbar by Johnson when in space on the edge of the penalty area summed up the action: a drifting, dull assault on the senses.

Chris Richards, meanwhile, headed over the bar from a corner in the 74^th minute but, in truth, Palace found the Cypriots quite a conundrum. Failing to create many chances, far less an opening goal, Enric Saborit and Hrvoje Milicevic marshalled the visitor’s rearguard with notable efficiency.

Would Glasner’s straight swap, sending Mateta on for Strand-Larsen, with 14 minutes remaining, bear fruit? Unfortunately not, for the slipshod Eagles. Towering hit man Mateta lacked enough service to make the desired impact.

And the teams have to do it all again in seven days’ time.

Before that, though, Palace host Leeds United on Sunday in the Premier League. A familiar, if likely more difficult, test for Glasner’s men to extract the kind of answers which were lacking here.

Eagles: Henderson, Canvot, Lacroix, Richards, Mitchell, Kamada, Wharton, Johnson (Pino 87), Guessand, Strand-Larsen (Mateta 76), Sarr