Crystal Palace 2-0 Zrinjski (3-1 agg): Glasner´s side cruise into Conference League last 16

Crystal Palace secured their place in the last 16 of the Conference League with a 2-0 win over Zrinjski, sending them through 3-1 on aggregate.

Evann Guessand’s late goal added to Maxence Lacroix’s first-half header at Selhurst Park as Palace avoided another shock result in Europe.

Having been held to a frustrating 1-1 draw in the first leg, Palace started on the front foot with Guessand and Daichi Kamada seeing good chances blocked by Zrinjski.

However, Palace found their breakthrough in the 36th minute as Lacroix was left completely unmarked on Adam Wharton’s whipped free-kick, and he glanced it in from very close range.

Though the hosts continued to dominate in the second half, Zrinjski almost produced another scare as Matej Sakota had the ball in the back of the net moments after coming on, only for the offside flag to go up against Karlo Abramovic.

Goran Karacic kept his side in it, making huge stops to keep out both Guessand and Ismaila Sarr, who also headed wide despite being afforded a lot of space on the edge of the six-yard box.

But Guessand had the final say in the 93rd minute; after intercepting a clearance and playing a one-two with Brennan Johnson, he drilled his low shot under Karacic.

See you in the last 16 of the UEFA Conference League pic.twitter.com/mUVmLZAezf

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) February 26, 2026

Data Debrief: Palace turn around home fortunes

Prior to this match, Palace had won just one of their three home games in the Conference League (D1 L1), but they made sure there were no slip-ups on Thursday.

Oliver Glasner’s side had 14 attempts worth 2.36 expected goals (xG), with the scoreline eventually mirroring their attacking performance slightly better.

Sarr, who netted in the 1-1 draw in the first leg, led the charge, contributing 0.98 xG to Palace’s total from four shots, while he also had a game-high 10 touches in the opposition box, though he could not add to his tally of three Conference League goals despite having two ‘big’ chances.