It’s fair to say Oliver Glasner has had more enjoyable afternoons. The Nottingham Forest head coach arrived in south London dressed like a bouncer from All Bar One in a black bomber jacket as if he was anticipating trouble but was given a rapturous reception by the home fans who used to worship him.

The generosity towards their former manager seemed to have extended to Crystal Palace’s players as Dan Ndoye was handed a goal in the third minute with Pierre Sage’s side awful in the opening half hour. Yet Forest could not put a second goal past Walter Benítez and the Argentina goalkeeper’s heroics inspired a thrilling comeback that secured Sage’s first home victory in the Premier League since taking over from Glasner in the summer. The irony that Daichi Kamada, who won the Europa League under Glasner while they were at Eintracht Frankfurt before he brought him to Selhurst Park on a free transfer, should score his first Premier League goal to equalise in his 68th appearance was surely not lost on the Austrian.

It was worth the wait for Crystal Palace. After being denied their rightful place in the Europa League last season, Pierre Sage’s side made the perfect debut by brushing aside Lech Poznan with a victory that will take some of the heat off their new manager.

The Frenchman has big shoes to fill in replacing Oliver Glasner after his predecessor won three trophies in the space of 12 months and there had been some talk of disquiet behind the scenes following his decision to drop the teenager Jaydee Canvot at the weekend. But while Palace face a testing trip to face in-form Leeds on Sunday, having conceded 11 goals from their opening four Premier League matches, they were given a big helping hand by their opponents here well before Radoslaw Murawski was sent off late on for a reckless foul on Canvot.

This was an occasion for Mikel Arteta to savour. With the owner, Stan Kroenke, watching from the stands on a rare visit to see his team, Arsenal celebrated being champions for the first time since 2004 by recording a comfortable victory over a Crystal Palace side who also have a European final on their minds.

Max Dowman became the youngest player to start a Premier League game at 16 years and 144 days old and played his part as goals from Gabriel Jesus and Noni Madueke rounded off a memorable campaign for Arteta and his side. Arsenal were presented with the Premier League trophy at a sultry Selhurst Park – after Oliver Glasner completed a lap of honour on his last home match in charge of Palace – and their attention will switch quickly to the daunting prospect of facing Paris Saint-Germain in Saturday’s Champions League final.

As the song that has accompanied them on their maiden European adventure promised all along, Crystal Palace are on their way to Leipzig. Sixteen years after rescuing the club he supported as a child from administration, Steve Parish watched on with immense pride as Oliver Glasner’s side held off a spirited challenge from Shakhtar Donetsk to book a showdown with Rayo Vallecano in eastern Germany later this month.

There were ecstatic celebrations as Palace’s players completed a lap of honour in front of their adoring supporters who are still having to pinch themselves over the events of the past 12 months. Glasner may be set to leave after what will be the 60th game of a marathon season but whatever happens after this, he will always have a special place in the club’s history. One of the loudest cheers of the night came when the stadium announcer confirmed that Nottingham Forest – who controversially replaced Palace in the Europa League – had been thrashed 4-0 by Aston Villa in their semi-final.

Slowly but surely, West Ham are edging their way to safety. While this battling draw against a Crystal Palace side with their minds elsewhere proved terminal to his former club Wolves as it confirmed their relegation, Nuno Espírito Santo had to be satisfied with a point that may be crucial in the long run after Brennan Johnson missed the chance to help out his old employers Tottenham.

Palace, who have now been involved in eight goalless draws this season, were indebted to Dean Henderson for producing the save of the night to deny Konstantinos Mavropanos just before half-time, even if the visitors struggled to create much else. West Ham will be disappointed not to have stretched their advantage over Tottenham to four points after a strangely subdued performance, although at least their fate remains in their hands. Former manager David Moyes and his in-form Everton side are next up on Saturday.

Spring is in the air and it’s all beaming smiles again at Crystal Palace. A sensational performance blew away Fiorentina as Jean-Philippe Mateta scored on his first start since the end of January, Tyrick Mitchell added a second before Ismaïla Sarr’s late header left Oliver Glasner’s side with one foot in the semi-finals in their debut European campaign.

Until now, Palace’s performances in front of their own fans in the Conference League have been far from impressive. But having had the luxury of three weeks to prepare for this match, Glasner showed why he has such a good record in knockout competitions in recent seasons as his team executed their gameplan perfectly.

This was a severe case of deja vu for Crystal Palace on their maiden European adventure, although at least this time they managed to avoid defeat. After surprisingly losing 1-0 to Larnaca here 139 days ago in the league stage, Oliver Glasner’s side were again left to rue missed opportunities and a lack of creativity in attack despite the return of Jean-Philippe Mateta as a late substitute.

The France striker received a mixed reception after his failed move to Milan in January made him public enemy number one for some Palace fans. But having missed six weeks due to a knee injury that scuppered his transfer to Serie A in January, he could not inspire his side to victory after coming off the bench to replace £48m club record signing Jørgen Strand Larsen.

It is a peculiarity particular to Crystal Palace that a season of such upheaval and unrest could still end up with Oliver Glasner’s side winning another trophy. Having left the pitch after last week’s first leg with supporters calling for the Austrian manager to be sacked in the morning, Maxence Lacroix and Evann Guessand made it a much more harmonious evening for Glasner and his side.

After being fortunate to escape from last week’s trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina with a 1-1 draw, it could have been very different if Zrinjski Mostar had equalised just before Guessand settled the tie late on. But having been demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League after winning the FA Cup last season, Palace’s first European campaign will continue against either the Cypriot side Larnaca – who they lost to during the group stages – or Mainz from Germany in the last 16.

“Opportunities missed. Board inept. Fans disrespected. Glasner finished,” read the banner unfurled by the ­Crystal Palace supporters behind Dean Henderson’s goal after barely 30 seconds of their meeting with the bottom side, Wolves. If that was meant to inspire a first league victory here since 1 November, then ­somehow it had the desired effect.

Having huffed and puffed against a side playing with 10 men for half an hour after Ladislav Krejci was shown a second yellow card for stupidly kicking the ball away, it looked like being another miserable day for Oliver ­Glasner. But when Evann Guessand’s winner went in during the final minute of normal time, there was an explosion of joy as some of the frustrations that have built up after a disastrous start to 2026 briefly melted away.

If this was a taste of what life on the road under Liam Rosenior might be like for Chelsea fans, then anyone who doubted his appointment may have to think again.

A brilliant performance from Estêvão Willian, who scored the first after a mistake from his fellow ­teenager Jaydee ­Canvot before setting up João Pedro for the second, inspired Chelsea to end a run of five Premier League games without an away win at their new head coach’s first attempt, as they piled on the ­misery for ­Crystal Palace, who also had Adam Wharton sent off.

It is a strange quirk of this fixture that the away side has not lost for the last 10 Premier League meetings between Crystal Palace and Fulham, with the substitute Tom Cairney’s late equaliser ensuring that streak goes on.

Only a brilliant save in added time from Dean Henderson and a glaring miss from the former Palace player Joachim Andersen denied Marco Silva’s side all the points after falling behind to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s first goal from open play since 1 November. But Oliver Glasner was still bitterly disappointed that his team could not end a sequence of six games without a victory in all competitions after running out of steam again in their 31st match of the season. “We are a little bit in survival mode,” said the Palace manager, whose team now face three games in the space of seven days.

The bad news for Oliver Glasner is that Crystal Palace’s marathon season is about to get even longer. A thrilling draw against Finnish side KuPS in their 27th game of the campaign means that they must now contest a two-leg playoff at the end of February after finishing just outside the top eight in the Conference League table.

Having selected an entirely different starting lineup including four teenagers from the side who lost to Manchester City at the weekend, the Palace manager saw his second string impress as Christantus Uche gave them a deserved half-time lead.

• Head coach praises ‘real leader’ Dias as defence holds firm

• Win at Selhurst Park extends Manchester City’s run to five

Pep Guardiola has warned that Manchester City are growing in resilience after Erling Haaland and Phil Foden secured the side’s fifth win in succession and maintained pressure on the Premier League leaders Arsenal.

City gained revenge for their FA Cup final defeat by Crystal Palace in May with a ruthless 3-0 win at Selhurst Park after they saw off Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek. It means they have won all five matches since enduring successive defeats against Newcastle and Bayer Leverkusen at the end of November and are back to within two points of Arsenal.