Ismaila Sarr double sends Crystal Palace through to Conference League last eight



Ismaila Sarr booked Crystal Palace a Conference League quarter-final meeting with Fiorentina with the extra-time winner in their 2-1 victory at nine-man AEK Larnaca to settle the tie by the same score on aggregate.

The Senegal international also opened the scoring in the 13th minute at the home of the second-placed Cypriot First Division side, where the visitors emerged with more attacking intent than last week’s lacklustre Selhurst Park draw.

Enric Saborit powered home a header to draw the sides level in the 63rd minute, then made things much harder for his team-mates when he was sent off for tugging Sarr down 10 minutes later.

Sarr finally broke the deadlock from a Palace corner in the ninth minute of the first period of added time, and came within inches of a hat-trick when he clipped the crossbar twice before the final whistle.

The hosts played out the closing minutes with nine men after Petros Ioannou was dismissed for a dangerous challenge on second-half substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta, who appeared alongside January club record signing Jorgen Strand Larsen for the first time