Following a shock defeat at Selhurst Park last time out against AEK Larnaca of Cyprus, Palace earned their first-ever home win in the main stage of a European competition by beating AZ.
A Maxence Lacroix goal followed up by an Ismaila Sarr brace secured that win for Oliver Glasner’s Eagles as they moved to six points after three league phase outings.
“We are really happy. The game we lost here was sad for us but we said before we want to give the win to the fans. Everyone deserves it,” Lacroix said.
France international Jean-Philippe Mateta missed a 17th-minute penalty for Palace as it looked as if their home hoodoo in Europe might continue.
However, they soon went ahead on 22 minutes as defender Lacroix fired home a sharp finish from a knockdown, before Senegalese forward Sarr prodded home from close range on the stroke of half-time.
A deflected Sven Mijnans strike in the 54th minute gave the visitors hope but Sarr then wrapped up the victory three minutes later with a neat one-on-one finish.
Mainz came from behind to win 2-1 at home to Fiorentina thanks to a 95th-minute goal by Lee Jae-sung.
The two-time Conference League runners-up took the lead inside 20 minutes courtesy of Simon Sohm, before Mainz hit back through Benedict Hollerbach.
As the match seemed to be set for a stalemate, Lee glanced home to grab a third win in three league phase outings for the Germans.
Mainz are joined by two other teams, Turkey’s Samsunspor and Slovenians Celje, in still holding an unblemished record in the tournament this campaign.
The Turkish Super Lig outfit beat Hamrun Spartans of Malta 3-0, while Celje scored two goals in five second-half minutes to defeat Legia Warsaw 2-1.
Aberdeen played out a goalless draw with AEK Larnaca and Shakhtar Donetsk beat Iceland’s Breidablik 2-0 in the Polish city of Krakow.
Dynamo Kyiv had six different goalscorers as they thumped Bosnians Zrinjski 6-0 in Lublin, Poland.
Spain’s Rayo Vallecano edged Lech Poznan 3-2 at home, while Ligue 1 club Strasbourg moved to seven points with a 2-1 victory in Sweden against Hacken. (AFP)
