Crystal Palace will have to navigate a two-legged play-off to reach the last 16 of the Conference League after they were held to a dramatic 2-2 draw by Finnish champions KuPS in their 27th match of a marathon season.
Manager Oliver Glasner made sweeping changes from the side beaten by Manchester City at the weekend, handing debuts to teenage defenders George King and Dean Benamar and including 16-year-old winger Joel Drakes-Thomas, who became the fourth youngest player in the club's history. Christantus Uche gave Palace a deserved lead with a brilliant curling effort into the far corner, and they dominated the first half without extending their advantage.
KuPS, whose domestic season ended nearly two months ago, equalised within minutes of the restart through Piotr Parzyszek, and Ibrahim Cissé put them ahead moments later. Parzyszek had a second goal disallowed for offside before Clinton Antwi was shown a red card for a dangerous challenge on substitute Will Hughes. Justin Devenny then headed in Tyrick Mitchell's cross to rescue a point, with Palace unable to find a winner in a frantic finale.
"We wanted to go straight into the last 16 but we knew that this could happen and we have to accept it when we picked this team," said Glasner, whose side face a play-off against Zrinjski or Sigma Olomouc at the end of February. The Austrian acknowledged the heavy schedule ahead, with a possible nine games in February if they progress in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.
KuPS were managed by Jarkko Wiss, the former Stockport and Hibernian midfielder, and had been crowned Finnish champions for a second consecutive year. Glasner praised the impact of his young players, particularly King and Benamar, while noting that the only downside of prioritising Saturday's Premier League meeting with Leeds was that their opponents already know their team.
