Palace squeeze through after goalless draw at Fredrikstad

Crystal Palace, playing the second match of their first European campaign, ground out a goalless draw at Fredrikstad in Norway to go through to the league phase 1-0 on aggregate.

Fredrikstad rarely threatened to cut short Palace's first-ever European campaign. "It is a huge achievement to go into the group stage," Palace manager Oliver Glasner told British broadcaster Channel 5.

In a game of few chances on an artificial pitch, Jean-Philippe Mateta, who scored the only goal of the first leg, went close twice for Palace. The hosts did not manage a shot on target.

"Against an opposition which is not easy to play, we had to accept it and the players did well and defended the box excellently," said Glasner.

"We know we have to and can play better in possession. We lost too many balls too easily."

The lacklustre draw stretched Palace's unbeaten run to 13 competitive matches, dating back to April 16th when they lost 5-0 to Newcastle in the Premier League.

On his 51st birthday, Glasner made only three changes from the team that drew with Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday with Marc Guehi, heavily linked with Liverpool, captaining the side.

"I told everyone at the club I didn't want to talk about transfers today," said Glasner. "Our job is to be successful going into the group stage. I cannot be deflecting to this transfer noise."