Oliver Glasner said Crystal Palace must “be patient and learn from this game” after a frustrating 0-0 draw with AEK Larnaca left the Conference League tie finely balanced ahead of next week’s second leg.
Oliver Glasner said Crystal Palace will need to adapt and stay patient after their 0-0 draw with AEK Larnaca at Selhurst Park, with the manager insisting the Eagles were facing exactly the kind of disciplined defensive side he had expected. Palace controlled much of the first leg and created the clearer openings, but they could not find a breakthrough against a Larnaca team that had conceded only once in the league phase and now head back to Cyprus with the tie level.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Glasner said: “If the team just conceded one in the group stage, then they won’t concede three or four against us. We have to be patient and learn from this game.” It was a line that summed up both the challenge Palace faced on Thursday night and the one still to come in the return leg. Palace were the more proactive side, but they were not facing an opponent likely to open up simply because of the occasion or the venue.
Glasner felt Palace were organised, if not at their best
The Palace manager did not pretend his side had produced a top-level display, but neither did he see a performance that lacked structure. “We didn’t know how the new manager will play, but he played the same style as in the first leg, and I expect he’ll play the same way, so maybe we have to adapt to it,” Glasner said. “I think the performance was absolutely okay. Maybe it was not the top, top performance, but it was okay.”
That assessment felt fair. Palace started brightly and should have led inside the opening 10 minutes when Evann Guessand was denied from close range, while Tyrick Mitchell and Chris Richards both had presentable chances later in the game. Yet the longer the match stayed goalless, the more Larnaca were able to settle into the contest they wanted.
Chances came, but not enough quality in the final action
Glasner’s most consistent point afterwards was that breaking down this Larnaca side was always likely to require patience and precision. “We were very well organised, we didn’t give them transitions that they were waiting for,” he said. “We knew that it’s not easy to create chances to score goals. I think we had opportunities to score. I think there is two, but also credit to the keeper, especially in the first half, two big saves.”
That was the frustration for Palace. In broad terms, the game was played on their terms. They restricted Larnaca’s threat, controlled territory and got into good areas often enough. But the decisive final action was missing. Jean-Philippe Mateta’s return from injury off the bench gave the crowd a lift late on, yet even that could not produce the goal Palace needed on the night.
The tie remains alive, but Palace know more is needed
The mood at full-time was clearly one of frustration, with boos around Selhurst after a game many expected Palace to win. Glasner’s response, though, was measured rather than dramatic. His view was that Palace had not been loose or chaotic, only short of the level of precision needed to punish an opponent built around shape and patience. The next task is to show they can solve that problem in Cyprus.