OLIVER GLASNER was handed more fixture chaos as a spectacular, second-half collapse saw Palace miss out on a top eight finish by the skin of their teeth.
The Eagles were flying when Christantus Uche cracked in the opener on five minutes against the Finnish side.
Christantus Uche got Crystal Palace off to a flyer after five minutesCredit: Getty
But KuPS fought back to take a stunning second half leadCredit: Getty
Justin Devenny’s equaliser did not manage to spark a winnerCredit: Reuters
But out of nowhere Piotr Parzyszek and Ibrahim Cisse scored two goals in the space of THREE minutes in the second half to leave Glasner with a death stare on the touchline.
The visitors went down to ten men as Clinton Antwi saw an instant red for a crunch challenge on Will Hughes and three minutes later Justin Devenny pulled one back.
But the draw wasn’t enough as the Eagles finished 11th, outside the top eight, and go into the play-offs, which will take place in February.
For Palace it was a team filled with teenage dreams with them playing two games in the space of 48 hours, as Joel Drakes-Thomas became Palace’s fourth-youngest player of all time at the age of 16, behind John Bostock, Alex Wynter, and Phil Hoadley.
Academy starlets of 17-year-old Dean Benamar and 18-year-old George King were also handed debuts – and for the most part they looked like they belonged there.
Glasner spent a lot of his build up grumbling about Palace’s busy fixture schedule in the run up to sitting down for his Christmas dinner.
But at least he can put Nigeria boss Eric Chelle on his Chrimbo card list given Uche was snubbed for AFCON which starts this Sunday.
The Nigerian midfielder curled in a peach of a strike into the corner on the outside of his right boot with five minutes on the clock.
He cheekily checked his pulse in celebration as the boisterous Selhurst Park fans went ballistic.
Uche was looking lively and nearly nabbed another ten minutes later as Drakes-Thomas teed him up after catching KUPS shirking their duties at the back.
Palace came close again as Romain Esse shimmied between a number of defenders but dragged his shot wide.
The message was more of the same after the restart from Glasner, but the visitors didn’t get the memo.
Five minutes into the second half, Saku Savolainen cut it back for Parzyszek who lashed it into the top corner for KUPS’ first shot on target.
Walter Benitez looked like he got a glove to it but he couldn’t prevent it nestling in the back of the net.
The visitors made it look easy as three minutes later Benitez punched away a corner, which fell to the feet of Antwi.
Antwi fired it into a crowded penalty area before Ibrahim Cisse flicked it home.
Home fans were livid when Uche went down in the penalty area after goalkeeper Johannes Kreidl left a foot dangling, but the referee waved it away.
Cue the chants of f*** UEFA and f*** Marinakis from the Holmesdale End.
The visitors were really flying and Parzyszek poked home another one, but the flag went up for offside and VAR concurred.
There was no surprise when Glasner made his changes, with Marc Guehi, Tyrick Mitchell and Hughes coming on for Dean Benamar, Jefferson Lerma and Borna Sosa.
A crunching challenge from Antwi, who had barely been on the pitch 10 minutes, on Hughes meant he was immediately sent packing with a red card.
There were no arguments and even VAR wasn’t having a look at that.
It lit a fire in Palace’s belly as they were back in it as Mitchell sent a brilliant ball to the back post, which Devenny steered home with his noggin.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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