Zrinjski 1-1 Crystal Palace, UEFA Conference League: Sarr Strike Cancelled As Eagles Held In Bosnia

Crystal Palace were held to a 1-1 draw by Zrinjski in their first leg of their Conference League play-off tie.

Ismaila Sarr's first-half strike was cancelled out by Karlo Abramovic at Stadion Bijeli Brijeg, with the Eagles' hopes of making the last 16 remaining in the balance ahead of next week's return fixture at Selhurst Park.

Palace thought they had gone ahead in the 12th minute through Sarr, after he tapped in from Daniel Munoz's flick on, but the linesman raised his flag as Chris Richards was found to be offside in the build-up.

Nevertheless, the Senegal forward did break the deadlock shortly before half-time, placing the ball into the bottom-right corner after a cushioned lay-off from Jorgen Strand Larsen, who was making his debut in major European competition.

However, Oliver Glasner's side were slow coming out of the break and were punished by Zrinjski. Leo Mikic stole the ball from Adam Wharton before playing Abramovic through on goal, and the latter made no mistake with his finish.

Mario Cuze failed to hit the target from close range after the hour mark, while Wharton's attempts to atone for his error saw his strike the woodwork as the Eagles had to settle for a draw in Bosnia.

Data Debrief: Frustration for Glasner

Glasner would have been hoping for a big win in order to rest his key players for the second leg, but Zrinjski had no intentions of giving in at 1-0 down. The hosts produced 1.24 expected goals (xG) from five shots, to Palace's 0.8 from 11 attempts.

And despite getting an assist to his name, it was a disappointing outing for Strand Larsen. He did not register a single shot, only had three touches in the box and lost all three of his aerial duels.

Meanwhile, Zrinjski's home strengths were on show again, with all nine of their goals in the competition this season coming on their own turf.