Frustrated: Oliver Glasner
Eze, who is set to undergo a medical on Friday ahead of his move to Arsenal, supposedly called Oliver Glasner on Thursday morning to say he was ill and would not be available for selection.
The 27-year-old’s absence was notable on a night that called for a bit of magic to match the occasion, as Palace struggled to carve out opportunities for themselves.
Glasner named a near full-strength side, but with an Eze-shaped hole in attack, the hosts struggled to cut through Fredrikstad.
The hosts dominated, holding 79.9% at one point in the first-half, but managed just two shots on target in an opening 45 minutes that laid bare the extent to which they will miss Eze.
In lieu of any creativity to get fans off their seats, anti-UEFA sentiment filled the air in southeast London, with loud cries of ‘F*** UEFA, f*** John Textor and f*** Marinakis’ heard throughout the stadium.
Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the winner but could have been helped by Eberechi Eze’s creative output
An instinctive header from Jean-Philippe Mateta gave Palace the breakthrough in the 54th minute, but it was a lead they struggled to build on as a scrappy game gave rise to groans of frustration from the home end.
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The post denied Daniel Munoz and Palace a precious second goal, but on the evidence of their performance, it was a goal they scarcely would have deserved.
Glasner had hoped to build a comfortable lead to take to Norway next week; however, the tie remains firmly in the balance, with Fredrikstad coming close to grabbing a stoppage-time equaliser.
The Conference League might not be the European competition Palace were hoping to play in this season, but it is one that they have a good chance of winning.
That said, if they are to qualify, let alone go deep in the Conference League, they will need to act before the transfer window closes.
Against Fredrikstad, Glasner named just three attackers on the bench: Romain Esse, Odsonne Edouard, and Jesrun Rak-Sakyi, all of whom are out of favour under the Austrian.
Edouard came on in the second-half but looked completely off the pace as Palace failed to capitalise on their home advantage.
Ahead of a crunch match with Nottingham Forest, the beneficiaries of Palace’s demotion to the Conference League, this weekend, the Eagles were made to work for their first-leg lead as Fredrikstad defended stoically in the face of mounting pressure.