Ismaila Sarr shines as Crystal Palace get back to winning ways in Conference League | OneFootball

Crystal Palace got their debut European campaign back on track with a comfortable 3-1 win over AZ Alkmaar at Selhurst Park.

Victory was key for Oliver Glasner's team if they were to keep on top of any ambition to bypass February's Conference League play-off round and it came with room to spare, Maxence Lacroix and Ismaila Sarr scoring in the first half to make up for Jean-Philippe Mateta's missed penalty.

The game ought to have been over by half-time. Palace twice hit the goal frame while the visiting goalkeeper Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro was excellent, producing one particularly fine save from Sarr as well as keeping out Mateta from 12 yards.

The Eredivisie side were a pale impression of the one Louis van Gaal led to the title in 2009. Their manager Maarten Martens was a key member of that side, and he at least saw his team pull a goal back through captain Sven Mijnans early in the second half, albeit heavily deflected.

In response Palace tore into Alkmaar again, Mateta teeing up Sarr for his second to put behind them the surprise defeat by AEK Larnaca and take charge of their European fate.

They had been on top throughout. Early on, Chris Richards headed a deep free-kick back across goal towards Sarr, who took the ball on his chest and thudded a half-volley against a post.

The same player won Palace their penalty. Sarr was initially judged to have been offside before Owusu-Oduro brought him down. A VAR review indicated otherwise but Mateta could not take advantage, giving the goalkeeper an easy save from the spot.

Owusu-Oduro then brilliantly kept out Sarr's header, Alkmaar failed to clear and Will Hughes lobbed the ball back against the crossbar, capping a wild two minutes from which the visitors somehow emerged still level.

In the 22nd minute, Lacroix finally stuck the ball away beautifully for Palace after Alkmaar had left it bouncing inside the box. Home fans' joy at a first home goal in European competition proper was suspended for fully three minutes while video officials satisfied themselves that Mateta had not been offside in the build-up.

Dean Henderson, a first-half spectator, had stayed awake to push away Ibrahim Sadiq's low drive from range then was up smartly to smother the rebound.

But it had been a thoroughly straightforward 45 minutes for Palace and it ended fairly with them two up, Sarr arriving at the right moment in the six-yard box to toe home Lacroix's flick-on.

Palace gifted the away side a goal with a ham-fisted attempt to clear a ball into the box. It dropped to captain Mijnans whose deflected shot beat Henderson.

The error would not prove costly and within minutes the two-goal lead was restored, a lovely ball down the centre by Mateta raced onto and finished expertly into the corner by Sarr.