Crystal Palace made an emphatic start to their first UEFA Europa League campaign, beating Lech Poznań 4–0 on Thursday, 17 September.
The Eagles were three goals ahead before half-time through Yéremy Pino, Chris Richards and Jørgen Strand Larsen, before substitute Eddie Nketiah completed the scoring late on. Palace's official match report described the result as the club's biggest-ever European win.
Lech had a chance to make the opening very different. Mikael Ishak narrowly missed an early opportunity, but Palace soon took control and went ahead in the 10th minute. Pino reacted to a loose throw-in from Terry Yegbe, got in behind and finished past goalkeeper Mateusz Lis to score Palace's first Europa League goal.
The lead doubled in the 27th minute. Adam Wharton sent a corner towards the back post and Richards rose to head home, leaving Lech with a difficult task before the half-hour mark.
Seven minutes later Palace had a third. Pino was fouled inside the penalty area and Strand Larsen converted the resulting spot kick. UEFA's official Matchday 1 round-up also records the three first-half scorers and Palace's commanding lead at the break.
Palace finish the job after half-time
There was no repeat of the first-half scoring burst immediately after the restart, but Lech were unable to find a route back into the contest. Palace's match report records goalkeeper Walter Benítez denying Michał Gurgul in the 82nd minute as the hosts protected their clean sheet.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 87th minute when Radosław Murawski received a second yellow card. Palace took advantage two minutes later, with Nketiah finishing after being played in by Dwight McNeil to make it 4–0.
The result gave Palace a memorable opening night in the competition and four different goalscorers. It also provided an immediate boost to their league-phase numbers, with three points and a goal difference of plus four after one match.
What it means and what happens next
The Europa League league phase places all 36 clubs in one table, with every team playing eight matches. The top eight qualify directly for the round of 16, while teams finishing ninth to 24th enter the knockout phase play-offs.
Goal difference can matter when teams are level on points, so winning by four without conceding gives Palace a useful early cushion. It is still only Matchday 1, however, with seven fixtures remaining.
According to UEFA's confirmed fixture list, Palace next travel to Lyon on 15 October, while Lech host Bayer Leverkusen on the same date. Palace will then continue a league-phase schedule that also includes Beşiktaş, Hoffenheim, Real Sociedad, Jagiellonia, Sparta Praha and Salzburg.
For Palace, the opening objective has been achieved in emphatic fashion: three points, four goals and a clean sheet. For Lech, the focus shifts to recovering quickly from a heavy opening defeat with the bulk of the league phase still to come.