Jean-Philippe Mateta's goal was decisive as Crystal Palace ended the Oliver Glasner era by lifting the Conference League trophy, beating Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in Wednesday's final. 

Mateta pounced when Augusto Batalla could only parry Adam Wharton's shot early in the second half in Leipzig, sending a large contingent of Palace fans into raptures.

The Eagles missed multiple chances to add a second goal and had to survive a somewhat nervy finish, but they held firm to add a first-ever European trophy to last year's FA Cup triumph. 

Palace struggled to carve out clear chances for much of the first half, while Rayo twice went close at the other end. Alemao made a poor connection when he skewed wide from close range, and Unai Lopez planted a side-footed effort just the wrong side of the upright.

Glasner's men should have gone ahead in first-half stoppage time when a searching cross from Wharton – who was omitted from England's World Cup squad last week – found Tyrick Mitchell at the back post, but his awkward, diving header flew wide. 

However, Palace did not have to wait long to break through in the second half.

Wharton advanced towards the edge of the area unchallenged six minutes after the restart, and though his left-footed drive was pushed away by Batalla, it fell at Mateta's feet for a simple finish. 

It should have been 2-0 soon afterwards as Yeremy Pino's wonderful free-kick bounced between both posts, and Mateta's follow-up attempt also flicked off the woodwork.

With confidence coursing through Palace, some more enterprising play from Pino created another glorious opening for Mateta, but he scuffed his shot and Batalla turned it wide. 

Rayo gained a foothold in the closing stages, but were unable to carve out a genuine chance, with Maxence Lacroix and Mitchell coming up with big defensive moments as Dean Henderson faced just one shot on target in the Palace goal.

Data Debrief: Palace cap dream European debut with Mateta the hero

Palace are the first team to win a trophy in their first campaign in major European competition since 1988, when KV Mechelen won the Cup Winners' Cup.

Three of the first five editions of the Conference League have now been won by English clubs (also West Ham in 2022-23 and Chelsea in 2024-25) – Palace's arch-rivals Brighton will attempt to follow in their footsteps in 2026-27.

Palace, meanwhile, will compete in the Europa League after lifting silverware in Glasner's final game at the helm.

The only previous managers to win a major European trophy in their final games in charge of an English club are Keith Burkinshaw at Tottenham (1984 UEFA Cup) and Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea (2019 Europa League). 

Coming into the final, Mateta had not scored away from Selhurst Park since last September, when he netted away at West Ham in the Premier League. Each of his last 11 goals in club football had come at Palace's home ground.

But he picked a great time to end that wait, becoming the first Frenchman to score in a Conference League final, and only the third French player to net for an English club in any major European final.

Paul Pogba previously did so for Manchester United in 2017, while Olivier Giroud scored for Chelsea in 2019, both in Europa League showpieces. 

Palace were deserved victors, overall. They only had one shot more than Rayo (11 to 10), but won the expected goals (xG) battle by 2.57 to 0.52.