Crystal Palace cruised to an easy win over Shelbourne in Dublin, boosting their chances of reaching the last 16 of the Conference League.
First-half goals from Christantus Uche, Eddie Nketiah, and Yeremy Pino put Palace fully in control, even though they couldn’t add more after the break.
The Eagles, who qualified for Europe by winning the FA Cup last season, are now ninth in the league phase with one game left against KuPS next Thursday.
The top eight teams go straight into the last 16, while teams from ninth to 24th enter the knockout play-off round.
Palace started the day in 18th with two wins and two losses, and manager Oliver Glasner picked a strong team featuring England players Marc Guehi and Adam Wharton.
Guehi missed an early chance before Uche finished a good team move to score in the 11th minute.
Palace felt they should’ve had a penalty when Nketiah was fouled, but he soon made it 2-0 with a tap-in after Uche’s effort hit the post.
Chris Richards then hit the bar before Pino sealed it with a great solo goal in the 37th minute.
Shelbourne, with only one point from five games and close to elimination, worked hard but were lucky not to concede a fourth when Romain Esse’s shot hit both posts and stayed out.
