Crystal Palace’s historic night did not go to plan.
Crystal Palace suffered a shock defeat in their first home game of a European competition proper as they were beaten 1-0 at Selhurst Park by Cypriot side Larnaca.
The FA Cup winners have made an excellent start to the Premier League and are among the favourites to win Europe’s third-tier competition.
Having beaten Dynamo Kyiv in their league phase opener, the Eagles were expected to sweep aside Larnaca.
Despite dominating the game, Palace were punished for a loose pass by Jaydee Canvot, which allowed Riad Bajic to slam home what proved to be the winner in the 51st minute.
“That is European football. You have to learn from it,” Palace manager Oliver Glasner told TNT Sports.
“Small mistakes get punished and on the other side we had enough chances to win the game. It is not just the story of today but many games. The effort was here, we were creating situations against a deep block. We had four or five big opportunities to score and we didn’t and we make one mistake and you can lose a game like this.
“It is part of the game. Nobody is blaming [Jaydee Canvot] him, it just happens. The finish was excellent. If you don’t score you can’t win. We lost a point today. It is disappointing, it is frustrating and it hurts but on the other side we keep going. We have enough games.
“We had enough clear chances and then you lose sometimes. We have to learn from it.”
Fiorentina win again, Rayo snatch dramatic draw
Larnaca are one of six teams with maximum points from two games, with two-time finalists Fiorentina among that group.
La Viola saw off Rapid Vienna 3-0 thanks to goals from Cher Ndour, Edin Dzeko and Albert Gudmundsson.
Nelson Weiper’s 24th-minute goal gave Mainz a 1-0 win over Zrinjski as they maintained a 100 percent record, but Rayo Vallecano needed a 103rd-minute penalty to draw 2-2 at Hacken.
Julius Lindberg and Isak Brundberg had turned the game in Hacken’s favour after Alvaro Garcia’s opener for Rayo.
Rayo had one penalty claim in stoppage time dismissed after a VAR check, but a second claim was granted and, seven minutes past the allotted amount of injury time, Andrei Ratiu fired into the bottom-left corner.
Unused Rayo substitute Pep Chavarria was sent off before the referee brought the game to an end after 105 minutes.
AZ Alkmaar beat 10-man Slovan Bratislava 1-0 but Strasbourg, another side fancied to compete for the trophy, were held 1-1 by Jagiellonia.
Aberdeen rock bottom
Scottish side Aberdeen sit at the foot of the 36-team table after they were thrashed 6-0 by AEK Athens.
It marked Aberdeen’s heaviest European defeat and manager Jimmy Thelin conceded the margin could have been greater.
“We know it’s not acceptable…it was 6-0, but it could be more,” said Thelin. “There is so much to improve, but also we played two games before in the league and it was two clean sheets and a stable performance.
“Tonight, Athens exposed us and that’s what we have to learn from. So, sometimes, just hands up, they win, totally deserved.”
In Croatia, Rijeka’s clash with Sparta Prague was abandoned after 12 minutes, with heavy rain leaving the pitch unplayable.
