Crystal Palace marked a landmark evening by setting a new club record of 19 games unbeaten in all competitions, beating Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 in the opening round of league phase matches for this season’s UEFA Conference League.
The neutral Polish turf of Lublin was the backdrop for Crystal Palace’s first-ever main-draw game in European competition, and on such a momentous evening, the opening exchanges were rather tetchy.
Certainly, the stat gurus who saw before kick-off that Dynamo’s last five matches had averaged 4.4 goals per game would undoubtedly have been disappointed to see an underwhelming first half-hour, where neither side created anything noteworthy in the final third.
The game caught alight in the 31st minute though, when Daniel Munoz netted Palace’s maiden goal in major European competition, as he climbed highest at the far post to head Yeremy Pino’s cross into the far corner.
Though now purring nicely, Palace were unable to double their advantage before the interval, but Borna Sosa came close when he latched onto the end of Adam Wharton’s measured ball over the top, before Daichi Kamada’s mazy run on the stroke of half-time ended with him tamely trickling an effort into the grateful hands of Ruslan Neshcheret.
With domestic commitments still bubbling away in the background, Oliver Glasner chose to withdraw Jean-Philippe Mateta at the break.
Eddie Nketiah was his replacement, and it was a decision which looked like it had paid dividends within 10 minutes of the restart when he lashed home from the edge of the area.
The offside flag denied him on that occasion, but he had the ball in the back of the net just moments later when he turned home from inside the six-yard box after Pino had tied Volodymyr Brazhko in knots on the byline with a silky piece of skill and found the former Arsenal man.
Nketiah came close to adding a third and ending the game as a contest soon after when his ferocious 25-yard drive forced a smart stop out of Neshcheret.
Dynamo had their stopper to thank for keeping them in the game, and their hopes of making an unlikely comeback took a surprise boost when Sosa received two yellow cards in the space of two minutes and five seconds and was given his marching orders.
Even with a man advantage in the final 15 minutes, Dynamo couldn’t find a late way back into the game and fell to a seventh defeat from their last nine league phase games in Europe.
The Eagles managed to weather a late storm to secure a first clean sheet in four games and get their league phase campaign off to a perfect start.
Having made club history tonight too, Palace are firmly on the up and vindicated their status as one of the realistic candidates to lift the Conference League trophy in May.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Yeremy Pino (Crystal Palace)
Key stats
- Crystal Palace have now gone 19 matches unbeaten in all competitions, the longest unbeaten run in their history
- Dynamo Kyiv did not have a shot on target until the 89th minute of the match
- Daniel Muñoz is Crystal Palace's first-ever scorer in major European competition - the Colombian has been involved in more goals than any other Premier League defender in all competitions in 2025 (five goals, six assists)