Crystal Palace missed a chance to progress directly to the last 16 of the Conference League when they were held to a 2-2 draw with Finnish club KuPS on Thursday.
Palace midfielder Justin Devenny headed in the equalizer in the 76th at Selhurst Park, just three minutes after the visitors were reduced to 10 men.
In the last competition match between European newcomers, Christantus Uche opened the score within six minutes.
The Finnish team needed only three minutes early in the second half to turn the tide with goals from Piotr Parzyszek and Ibrahim Cissé.
Palace manager Oliver Glasner handed the first starts to a trio from the academy including defender George King, midfielder Dean Benamar and forward Joél Drakes-Thomas, who at 16 became the fourth youngest player to make a senior appearance for the London club.
READ | Conference League: Strasbourg beat Crystal Palace 2-1
The 36 clubs in the third-tier European competition play against six different opponents and are ranked in a single league table. The clubs from the Champions League and Europa League each play eight matches.
The top eight teams in the Conference League will go straight to the round of 16 in March. Teams placed ninth through 24th and advanced to the two-leg knockout play-offs in February. The bottom 12 teams are eliminated.
Palace finished the league stage in 10th place.
Lausanne-Sport defeated two-time number two Fiorentina 1-0 and finished ninth. Fiorentina, the last-placed team in Serie A, finished the league stage in 15th.
Strasbourg defeated Icelandic club Breidablik 3–1 and finished the league stage undefeated at the top of the standings with 16 points. Sebastian Nanasi, Martial Godo and Julio Enciso scored for Strasbourg.
Poland’s Raków followed in second place with 14 points after a 1-0 win over Omonoia in Cyprus.
AEK Athens scored from the spot in the 15th minute of stoppage time to beat Universitatea Craiova 3-2 and were one point behind on 13 points along with four other teams.
Sparta Prague recorded a 3-0 win over Aberdeen to move up to fourth place, while Kosovo’s Rayo Vallecano Drita also saw off 3-0 for fifth place.
Shakhtar were held 0-0 by Rijeka to finish sixth, while Mainz, the Bundesliga’s last-placed team, beat Samsunspor 2-0 to finish seventh.
AEK Larnaca squeezed into the top eight with a 1-0 win over Shkendija.
Published on December 19, 2025
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