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AEK Larnaca 1-2 Crystal Palace (1-2 agg, aet): Sarr secures quarter-final spot

  /  autty

Crystal Palace booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Conference League with a 2-1 second-leg victory over nine-man Larnaca after extra time.

Ismaila Sarr's opener was cancelled out by Enric Saborit, who was later sent off, but the Senegalese forward struck again in extra time to set up a last-eight clash with Serie A side Fiorentina.

After failing to score in their previous two matchups with Larnaca this season, Palace needed just 13 minutes to make the breakthrough this time around as Sarr got on the end of a deflected pass from Adam Wharton and took the ball around the goalkeeper before scoring.

Maxence Lacroix missed a great chance to double Palace's lead on the stroke of half-time, heading straight at Zlatan Alomerovic from within the six-yard box, while Sarr fired twice off target after the break.

The second leg then saw two major twists shortly after the hour mark, with Saborit first powering a header into the bottom-left corner from Marcus Rohden's corner before receiving a second yellow card for fouling Sarr while the Palace winger was racing in behind.

Although Larnaca held on to take the match beyond normal time, Sarr swept home from Daichi Kamada's low cross in the 99th minute to seal victory for the Eagles. 

There were some unsavoury scenes towards the end of extra time when Larnaca thought they were awarded a penalty for a handball by Jean-Philippe Mateta before it was overturned by VAR, which led to fans throwing cups onto the pitch.

Things got worse for the hosts as Petros Ioannou was shown a straight red card for a poor challenge on Mateta, which came moments before Sarr struck the right post despite the goalkeeper leaving the goal unguarded as he went up the other end for a free-kick.

Data Debrief: Relentless Sarr reaps his rewards

It was a deserved victory in the end for Palace, who produced 3.18 expected goals (xG) from 29 shots after Sarr and Jorgen Strand Larsen both hit the woodwork in extra time, compared to Larnaca's 0.28 from six attempts.

And it was an inspired performance from Sarr, who did everything he could to ensure the Eagles' progression. He registered a match-high 12 shots, which accounted for 1.49 of Palace's xG, while also recording the most touches in the box (11) and completing the most dribbles (two).

Oliver Glasner's side had 70.2% possession in this match. It was the first time Palace have won a game in the Conference League in which they have had at least 65% possession.