Christantus Uche enjoyed a brilliant night in the UEFA Europa Conference League, scoring his first goal for Crystal Palace and playing a central role in their 3–0 victory over Shelbourne.
Uche opened the scoring in the 11th minute, finishing calmly after connecting with a precise pass from Eddie Nketiah.
The Nigeria international was involved in the second goal 14 minutes later.
After receiving a through ball from Yeremy Pino, Uche burst past his marker and unleashed a right footed strike from the centre of the box.
His effort rattled the inside of the bar, falling perfectly for Nketiah to tap home and double Palace’s advantage.
Pino added a third in the 37th minute, sealing a dominant first half performance and securing all three points for Oliver Glasner’s side.
Beyond his goal, Uche delivered an outstanding all round display 20 completed passes, with three into the final third, two chances created, and 100% dribble success.
After the match, manager Oliver Glasner praised his team’s mentality and execution despite difficult conditions. Speaking to Palace TV, he said:
“It’s a credit to the players, their attitude today, but the circumstances were not really great, and the weather was also not the best. But they focused and concentrated on playing this game.
“We scored three great goals in the first half and created many more chances in the second half. For me, it was a little bit unlucky that we missed a few chances.
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“But we played against a team that defended so deep. It was our best performance when it comes to creating so many chances against the low block.
“It gave us the opportunity to make three substitutes and rest some players, while keeping others in the rhythm. So it was a perfect night for us.”
The victory lifts Crystal Palace to 9th place in the Europa Conference League standings, just one point shy of the automatic qualification spots.
Palace now shift their focus back to the Premier League, where they will welcome Manchester City to Selhurst Park in what promises to be a high intensity fixture.
