Crystal Palace beat Shelbourne 3-0 in Dublin, moving within a point of an automatic UEFA Conference League last-16 spot with one game left.
DUBLIN: Crystal Palace delivered a commanding 3-0 victory over Shelbourne on Thursday to boost their bid for an automatic UEFA Conference League last-16 place.
The win moves the in-form Eagles to within a single point of eighth-placed Mainz in the league phase standings.
Christantus Uche, Eddie Nketiah and Yeremy Pino all found the net at Tolka Park to secure the three points.
Palace will conclude their league phase campaign by hosting Finnish side KuPS next Thursday.
“Credit to the players and the team for their attitude,” Palace coach Oliver Glasner told TNT Sports.
He acknowledged the difficult pitch conditions and a motivated opponent but praised his team’s first-half performance.
Shelbourne remain third from bottom after collecting just one point from their five matches.
Palace fielded a strong lineup despite a looming Premier League clash with Manchester City, though attacker Jean-Philippe Mateta was omitted from the squad.
Uche opened the scoring after 11 minutes before Nketiah doubled the lead 14 minutes later.
Pino sealed the victory eight minutes before half-time with his third goal of the campaign.
“We have to keep believing. We want to go all the way in this competition,” said Nketiah.
In other action, a heavily rotated Strasbourg side secured their last-16 place with a 1-0 win away at Aberdeen. – AFP
