Crystal Palace suffered a 3-2 defeat to Olympique Lyonnais in France despite mounting a spirited second-half comeback in their first-ever UEFA Europa League away match.
The Eagles fell behind after eight minutes when Corentin Tolisso finished from close range following an early Lyon corner. Ernest Nuamah then doubled the hosts’ advantage before half-time, leaving Palace with a two-goal deficit despite largely containing their opponents.
Palace responded strongly after the interval. Yéremy Pino produced a powerful finish from a cleverly worked corner to bring the visitors back into the contest, before Daichi Kamada struck from close range after Lyon had failed to clear a dangerous attack.
In between those Palace goals, Pavel Sulc restored Lyon’s two-goal cushion by diverting the ball past Walter BenÃtez. The Eagles continued to press late on, with an excellent save from Dominik Greif denying Chris Richards an equaliser from a near-post corner.
Palace had made three changes to their starting line-up, with Ismaïla Sarr making his first start of the season alongside Óscar Mingueza and Axel Disasi. Their late pressure ultimately went unrewarded, as Lyon held on for all three points in an end-to-end European contest.
