Report & Highlights: Palace begin European adventure with convincing win over Dynamo Kyiv

First-team

2 Oct 2025

Crystal Palace announced our arrival on the continental stage with a landmark 2-0 win over Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv at Motor Lublin Arena – a result which saw us set a new club record of 19 matches unbeaten in all competitions.

Summary:

Palace play first-ever match in a major European competition proper against Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv in Lublin, Poland.
Eagles bidding to set a unbeaten club record of 19 matches without defeat.
Sosa and Hughes return to the starting XI for historic occasion.
5: Muñoz crosses low from the right, but Mateta is crowded out at the near post.
22: A quiet opening quarter to the match, but Palace look the likelier to score.
24: Hughes’ half-volley from distance is blocked as Dynamo sit in.
31 – GOAL: Muñoz scores Palace’s first-ever European away goal with an exquisite header from the angle.
44: Sosa slides in at the far post, forcing Neshcheret into a good save.
45+4: Brilliant Kamada run ends in simple save for Neshcheret.
HT: Dynamo Kyiv 0-1 Palace
Nketiah replaces Mateta at half-time.
58 – GOAL: Pino and Nketiah combine brilliantly, an outside-of-the-boot cross met with a similarly deft finish by the No. 9.
65: Nketiah drives towards goal and sees a 25-yard strike tipped round the post.
76 – RED CARD: Sosa receives two yellow cards in a couple of minutes.
82: Blănuță pokes wide at the near post for Dynamo.
88: Rio Cardines makes senior Palace debut as a late substitute.
90+4: The youngster comes close after Wharton’s strike is spilled.
FT: Dynamo Kyiv 0-2 Palace
Palace secure ground-breaking, record-setting victory in Europe.

Match Highlights: Dynamo Kyiv 0-2 Crystal Palace

Yeremy Pino was the architect of both goals as fine finishes either side of half-time from Daniel Muñoz – a superb looping header – and Eddie Nketiah – a sharp finish at the near post – saw the Eagles cap a professional performance during which they by-and-large outclassed Dynamo Kyiv, despite finishing the game with 10 men.

The road to European football might have been long and winding for Crystal Palace – but 164 years after the first form of the Football Club took its roots in South London, the Glaziers-then-Eagles were finally spreading their wings internationally, with a first-ever match in a major continental competition proper: our UEFA Conference League debut.

It was an occasion celebrated warmly and jubilantly by Palace fans in the streets of Lublin, Poland – hosting the match due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

There was more history to play for heading into the contest as well; just five days after toppling Liverpool at Selhurst Park, the Premier League’s only still-unbeaten side this season were bidding to set a club record of 19 matches without defeat in all competitions – a run which paved the way to FA Cup and Community Shield glory, and now European football.

Standing in our way: Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv, themselves on a long-unbeaten run of 39 domestic matches. Palace Manager Oliver Glasner subsequently made a strong team selection, with just two changes from the side which bested the Reds, Borna Sosa and Will Hughes returning to the starting XI.

Backed by a raucous 2,500-strong travelling Red and Blue-clad support, they made a bright start. Muñoz – ever-lively down the right-hand side – found Jean-Philippe Mateta with a teasing low cross in, but the forward was crowded out as he looked to flick it goalwards on his instep.

That paved the way for a stop-start opening to the match, the Eagles enjoying two-thirds of the possession but coming up against a disciplined Kyiv side; Hughes’ volley from 30 yards, blocked, was the closest either side came to opening the scoring.

It wasn’t until half-an-hour in that the first real chance of the game arrived – and in truth it was a half-chance at best, but one somehow improvised into a first goal of the season by the rampaging Muñoz.

Pino, drifting out to the left, jinked inside and pinged a driven diagonal ball across the penalty area for the Colombian to attack in the air.

From that tight an angle, and that far a distance out, Muñoz would do well to score – but score he did with a looping, arcing header which dipped into the top corner at the last moment.

Muñoz wheeled away to celebrate in front of the bouncing away end. History was made: Crystal Palace’s first-ever away goal in Europe, and our first-ever goal in a major European competition proper.

The opener gave Palace more attacking impetus, and they finished the half strongly – Wharton picked out Sosa at the far post but the Croatian failed to make a clean connection with his finish, and Dynamo goalkeeper Ruslan Neshcheret was able to smother it.

On the stroke of half-time, Premier League Player of the Month nominee Daichi Kamada produced a brilliant individual run, slaloming past two challenges – but, off-balance, lacked conviction with his left-footed finish.

Half-time saw Glasner shuffle his pack once more, as Saturday’s goalscoring hero Eddie Nketiah replaced Mateta at half-time.

The forward’s movement marked him out as an immediate threat, and drew space for Pino – an impressive performer on the night – to fire goalwards from the edge of the area shortly after the restart. The effort was held by Neshcheret.

Forays forward from Dynamo were proving few and far between, but they did see half-a-chance on 55 minutes when Mykola Shaparenko found some space on the left side of the penalty area. The 26-year-old flashed an effort across the six-yard box and wide of the far post – never really threatening Dean Henderson’s goal.

A minute later, Nketiah thought he’d scored goals in back-to-back matches with a clinical reverse finish from Wharton’s clever pass – only for the flag to go up for offside.

But the No. 9 was not to be denied – and neither was the class of Yeremy Pino.

It was an exquisite second goal for Palace as the Spaniard, seemingly running down a cul-de-sac on the left, produced an inspired moment of skill to trick his way past Volodymyr Brazhko.

Reaching the byline, his outside-of-the-boot cross was met – on the charge – by Nketiah in mid-air, who poked goalwards with the outside of his own boot, the ball flashing past Neshcheret.

Palace were two to the good, and proving too good for their opposition.

Nketiah continued to threaten, and threatened once again on 65 minutes with a direct run towards the box. His low drive was tipped around the post by Neshcheret.

Then, with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining, the only blemish on Palace’s copybook: in the space of two minutes, Sosa was twice found guilty of catching his opposite number late in the challenge, and duly saw a second yellow card to reduce the Eagles to 10 men.

That gave Dynamo some late impetus, as Vladislav Blănuță poked a late half-chance wide at the near post.

But overall, Palace remained comfortable – and were even able to hand 19-year-old Trinidad & Tobago international Rio Cardines his senior debut in the final seconds.

The teenager might have even scored in the final minute of stoppage time when Wharton’s driven effort was spilled his way – but Dynamo defender Vladyslav Dubinchak made a brave intervention.

Off the mark in the Conference League, off the mark in Europe, and now just one game away from going half-a-calendar year unbeaten – Crystal Palace’s sensational 2025 continued with a statement arrival in Europe.

Palace: Henderson (GK), Muñoz (Cardines, 88), Richards, Lacroix, Guéhi, Sosa, Hughes (Lerma, 52), Wharton, Pino (Devenny, 69), Kamada (Sarr, 69), Mateta (Nketiah, HT).

Subs: Benítez (GK), Matthews (GK), Clyne, Canvot, Mitchell, Esse, Uche.

Dynamo Kyiv: Neshcheret (GK), Tymchyk (Karavaiev, 81), Thiare, Bilovar, Mykhavko (Voloshyn, 34), Brazhko, Dubinchak, Yarmolenko (Ogundana, 67), Yatsyk (Pikhalonok, 68), Shaparenko (Blănuță, 81), Guerrero.

Subs: Morgan (GK), Ihnatenko (GK), Vivcharenko, Burtnyk, Rubchynskyi, Buialskyi, Zakharchenko.

As It Happened

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