Football writer Alex Keble reports on Thursday's UEFA Europa League and Conference League matches featuring Premier League clubs.
Sarr double gets Palace’s first-ever European win at Selhurst Park
Crystal Palace 3-1 AZ Alkmaar
Oliver Glasner has achieved a new milestone: Crystal Palace’s first-ever victory at Selhurst Park in a European competition.
This is Palace’s debut campaign in Europe, but you wouldn’t know it watching the hosts pepper the AZ Alkmaar goal with shots from the off, watching them put three past the Dutch side, and indeed watching them instantly shrug off the visitors’ only goal of the game by re-establishing their two-goal cushion within three minutes.
Palace flowed with confidence from the start, producing a hugely entertaining and end-to-end game of football. On this evidence, Palace – completely unfazed – can go all the way.
Maxence Lacroix opened the scoring with a thumping drive from the edge of the area in the 22nd minute, calming nerves just five minutes after Jean-Philippe Mateta had missed a penalty.
“It felt like our story of the Conference League but then we scored a nice goal,” Glasner said to TNT Sports after the match.
“We spoke about how Alkmaar defend man-to-man and how we could attack. It was a tough game but a very good result. The performance was maybe not top but it was okay.”
Ismaila Sarr bundled the ball home just before the break in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, then Sarr got a second, sprinting onto a Mateta through-ball to finish in the 57th minute, less than 180 seconds after Sven Mijnans’s 54th-minute strike had halved the deficit.
Sarr now has seven goals in all competitions this season, stepping up brilliantly after the departure of Eberechi Eze.
Glasner’s side have stepped up, too, winning six points from three games and to sit ninth in the Conference League table, outside the automatic qualification spots on goal difference only.
It’s been a strong start that proves Palace very much belong at this level.
See: Crystal Palace's report and line-up
Villa’s squad depth is just enough to break down a well-drilled Maccabi Tel Aviv
Aston Villa 2-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
This was widely expected to be a simple home win for Aston Villa and Unai Emery’s five changes suggested he, too, thought his side would sweep aside a team that had picked up just one point from three matches in the Europa League.
But Maccabi Tel Aviv had done their homework. They sat deep, blocked the middle, and counter-attacked expertly against Villa’s high line, causing more than a few scares in a low-quality first half at Villa Park.
Morgan Rogers was not one of the Villa players rested, and with good reason. He was squeezed out throughout the first half – right up until he wasn’t.
Just before half-time, Rogers picked up the ball on the half-turn, drove past a defender and, after exchanging passes with Jadon Sancho, clipped a brilliant pass through for Ian Maatsen, who expertly lifted the ball over the goalkeeper and in off the bar.
That assist was Rogers' 12th of 2025 in all competitions, more than any other Premier League player.
The visitors’ resistance had been broken by Villa’s chief playmaker. Donyell Malen added a second with a penalty in the 59th minute (an important moment for the hosts, who had missed their previous two spot-kicks this season) and from then on Villa were comfortable.
There was time to welcome back Youri Tielemans from injury and bring on John McGinn who, just after signing a new contract, moved joint-16th in Villa’s all-time appearance list on his 300th game.
Emery will be satisfied, then, to get the job done, especially after the shock defeat at Go Ahead Eagles in their last Europa League game. They are now sixth with nine points from four games, and primed to qualify.
“We used our passion and our experience in Europe,” Emery said to TNT Sports after the match.
“Here at home in the Conference League two years ago, we have the experience and try to understand the difficulties. Do not be frustrated, try and use it to be passionate. It was coming in the second half. Overall, we dominated.”
But it wasn’t the first time this season Villa have been slowed right down by a low block. Goalscoring has been an issue throughout the campaign, with just 14 scored in 14 games in all competitions before tonight.
Villa will need to be sharper for the trip to AFC Bournemouth on Sunday.
See: Aston Villa's report and line-up
Missed chances for Forest but it could be a valuable away point for Dyche
Sturm Graz 0-0 Nottingham Forest
When the Nottingham Forest team and their fans look back upon this gruelling and uncomfortable 0-0 result- when they draw to mind Morgan Gibbs-White’s 35th-minute penalty miss or Nicolas Dominguez hitting the bar at the death - they might rue a missed opportunity in Austria.
But that would be an overreaction to what was a commendable performance and result in the Europa League.
Missed penalties leave a bitter taste, but an away point is always useful in this extended league phase, and it’s important to remember this is new territory for this Forest team – and for their head coach.
When the club appointed Ange Postecoglou in September they did so partly because he had won the Europa League the previous season with Tottenham Hotspur. His replacement, Sean Dyche, has never managed in the tournament proper.
For that reason alone we can commend the confidence and assertiveness of a performance that keeps Forest in the playoff places.
Two clean sheets from two in Europe is another big plus under Dyche, even if the draw here meant Forest are still waiting for their first away win across all competitions this season. It was made all the more impressive by the changes Dyche made the the starting XI.
“We controlled the first half, but you’ve got to score goals to win games, which is my biggest gripe. We had two or three golden chances and got into key areas,” Dyche said on Forest's website after the match.
“On the other hand, it’s a clean sheet; they didn’t really threaten our defence, and I can’t remember them having too many chances.
“It was just the cutting edge that we didn’t have to win the game.
“We have a threadbare squad that has put in a shift and delivered a performance that has at least got us a point.”
Striker Arnaud Kalimuendo, who scored 17 goals in Ligue 1 last season, was given his first start for the club while James McAtee, another marquee signing in the summer, made only his second start.
Embedding these two could be critical to Forest’s Premier League safety. Taking part in a hard-fought point in Europe isn’t a bad way to get started. Nor is it bad preparation for Sunday’s crucial home game against Leeds United.
See: Forest report and line-up