Given how both teams’ seasons have panned out so far, Palace getting demoted to the Conference League and replaced by Nottingham Forest looks to have actually worked out in the Eagles’ favour.
Feyenoord (4-3-3): Wellenreuther; Read, Ahmedhodzic, Watanabe, Smal; Valente, Steijn, Hwang; Hadj Moussa, Ueda, Sauer.
Subs: Bijlow, Bossin, Nieuwkoop, Larin, Borges, Bos, Tengstedt, Diarra, Targhaline, Lotomba, Sliti, Plug.
Aston Villa (4-3-3): Martínez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen; Rogers, Kamara, McGinn; Guessand, Watkins, Buendía.
Subs: Bizot, Proctor, Lindelöf, Elliott, Digne, Malen, Jimoh, Bogarde, Burrowes, Broggio.
Moments later, Nketiah does get his goal, finishing well after Yeremy Piño’s lovely turn and cross into the area. It’s no more than Palace deserve.
Another disallowed goal, more clear-cut this time as substitute Eddie Nketiah’s effort for Crystal Palace is chalked off for an offside …
Celtic thought they were level, but Kelechi Iheanacho’s strike has been disallowed by VAR, who ruled that the forward controlled the ball with his arm in the buildup. From the angle we’ve seen, it wasn’t clear the ball touched his arm at all.
Conference League half-time scores:
Dynamo Kyiv 0-1 Crystal Palace
Jagellonia 0-0 Hamrun
KuPS 0-0 Drita
Lausanne 3-0 Breidablik
Lech Poznan 3-0 Rapid Vienna
Noah 1-0 Rijeka
Omonia Nicosia 0-0 Mainz
Rayo Vallecano 2-0 Shkendija
Zrinjski 3-0 Lincoln Red Imps
Europa League half-time scores:
Roma 0-1 Lille
Bologna 1-0 Freiburg
Brann 1-0 Utrecht
Celtic 0-1 Braga
FCSB 0-2 Young Boys
Fenerbahce 2-1 Nice
Ludogorets 0-1 Betis
Panathinaikos 0-0 Go Ahead Eagles
Viktoria Plzen 2-0 Malmö
A fine start to the Conference League proper for Palace, with Daniel Muñoz’s header giving the visitors a deserved lead in Lublin.
Another tough European night for Brendan Rodgers so far, as the visitors lead through Ricardo Horta’s long-range shot, which had Kasper Schmeichel flapping at thin air.
Nottingham Forest’s last home game in Europe was a sobering affair: hopeful after returning from Munich with just a 2-1 deficit, the hosts shipped five goals to a rampant Bayern side in March 1996. Tonight’s opponents, Midtjylland, did not even exist back then – the Danish side were formed by a merger in 1999 but have amassed extensive European experience in the last decade, and represent a tough test for Ange Postecoglou, still seeking his first win as Forest manager.
Aston Villa have also made an underwhelming start to the season and face a more established European name in Feyenoord – whose home ground in Rotterdam was scene of Villa’s greatest night back in 1982. While fans enjoy a nostalgic trip to De Kuip, Unai Emery’s chief concern will be maintaining momentum after eking out successive victories over Bologna and Fulham in the last week.
Speaking of tough starts, Russell Martin may have finally won a game and boosted his standing among Rangers fans by around 0.0001%, but Sturm Graz – beaten by Midtjylland in their Europa League opener – look capable of returning the beleaguered manager to rock bottom. Another manager under pressure, Aberdeen’s Jimmy Thelin, welcomes Shakhtar Donetsk to Pittodrie.
All those games kick off at 8pm (BST), but we’ll have updates from Crystal Palace’s Conference League trip to face Dynamo Kyiv in Poland and Celtic’s home Europa League game against Braga, plus all the other hot Euro action. Hold tight!