After a season of departures, public rows and waves of emotion among supporters, Crystal Palace still harbour the chance of ending their campaign with a trophy.
Captain Dean Henderson tried to brush off the surrounding noise after Palace beat Bosnian side Zrinjski 2-0 at Selhurst Park, completing a 3-1 aggregate victory to reach the Europa Conference League last 16. Maxence Lacroix and Evann Guessand scored on the night, and Henderson joked he did not understand the fuss, while stressing the importance of home support and the knockout nature of the competition.
The last 12 months have been extraordinary for the Eagles. In May they claimed the club’s first major trophy with an FA Cup win over Manchester City, then added the Community Shield in a penalty shootout against Liverpool. Yet the summer and autumn saw notable exits: Eberechi Eze moved to Arsenal, Marc Guehi left for Manchester City after interest from Liverpool, and top scorer Jean-Philippe Mateta nearly joined AC Milan before failing a medical.
Manager Oliver Glasner — widely seen as the most successful boss in Palace history — announced in January he would depart at season’s end and accused the board of having “abandon
