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Crystal Palace settles for Conference League playoffs after 2-2 draw with Finnish club KuPS

Crystal Palace settles for Conference League playoffs after 2-2 draw with Finnish club KuPS | iNFOnews.ca
Crystal Palace's Walter Benitez concedes his side's second goal to KuPS during the Conference League soccer match between Crystal Palace and KuPS in London, Thursday Dec. 18, 2025. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Crystal Palace missed a chance to advance directly to the Conference League round of 16 when it was held to a 2-2 draw with Finnish club KuPS on Thursday.

Palace midfielder Justin Devenny headed home an equalizer in the 76th at Selhurst Park, just three minutes after the visitors were reduced to 10 men.

In the final league-phase match between between European newcomers, Christantus Uche opened the scoring inside six minutes.

The Finnish side needed just three minutes early in the second half to turned it around through goals from Piotr Parzyszek and Ibrahim Cissé.

Palace manager Oliver Glasner gave first starts to a trio from the academy, including defender George King, midfielder Dean Benamar and forward Joél Drakes-Thomas, who at 16 became the fourth-youngest player to make a senior appearance for the London club.

The 36 clubs in the third-tier European competition play six different opponents and are ranked in a single-standings format. The clubs in the Champions League and Europa League each play eight matches.

The top eight teams in the Conference League go directly to the round of 16 in March. Teams placed ninth to 24th advance to the two-leg knockout playoffs in February. The bottom 12 teams are eliminated.

Palace finished the league phase in 10th place.

Lausanne-Sport beat two-time runner-up Fiorentina 1-0 to place ninth. Fiorentina, the last-place team in Serie A, ended the league phase 15th.

Top eight

Strasbourg beat Icelandic club Breidablik 3-1 to complete the league phase unbeaten atop the standings with 16 points. Sebastian Nanasi, Martial Godo and Julio Enciso scored for Strasbourg.

Raków of Poland followed in second with 14 points after a 1-0 win over Omonoia in Cyprus.

AEK Athens scored from the spot in the 15th minute of stoppage time to edge Universitatea Craiova 3-2 and was a point back together with four other teams on 13 points.

Sparta Prague cruised to a 3-0 win over Aberdeen to move to fourth as Rayo Vallecano dealt with Drita from Kosovo also 3-0 for fifth place.

Shakhtar was held by Rijeka 0-0 and was sixth while Mainz, the Bundesliga’s last-place team, beat Samsunspor 2-0 for seventh.

AEK Larnaca squeezed inside the top eight with a 1-0 win over Shkendija.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Crystal Palace settles for Conference League playoffs after 2-2 draw with Finnish club KuPS | iNFOnews.ca
Crystal Palace’s Christantus Uche, second right, scores during the Conference League soccer match between Crystal Palace and KuPS in London, Thursday Dec. 18, 2025. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Crystal Palace settles for Conference League playoffs after 2-2 draw with Finnish club KuPS | iNFOnews.ca
Mainz’s Nadiem Amiri scores their side’s second goal of the game during the UEFA Conference League soccer match between FSV Mainz 05 and Samsunspor, in Mainz, Germany, Thursday Dec. 18, 2025. (Torsten Silz/dpa via AP)
Crystal Palace settles for Conference League playoffs after 2-2 draw with Finnish club KuPS | iNFOnews.ca
FC Lausanne-Sport’s Gabriel Sigua celebrates after scoring during the UEFA Conference League soccer match between FC Lausanne-Sport, LS, and ACF Fiorentina, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
Crystal Palace settles for Conference League playoffs after 2-2 draw with Finnish club KuPS | iNFOnews.ca
Sparta’s John Mercado, right, scores the opening goal during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Sparta Prague and Aberdeen in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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The Associated Press

Karel Janicek

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.

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