A JEAN GENIUS

Mateta gets Euro campaign off to flier

- Mike Walters

AS a beauty pageant, it was nearer cat litter than catwalk.

But as Jean-Philippe Mateta hit Crystal Palace's first goal in a major European competition, a grim contest proved the adage there are no easy games.

Sadly for Palace, after Eberechi Eze rang in sick and missed his chance to wave goodbye ahead of his £67.5million move to Arsenal, there will be no Eze games either.

But Palace should have more than enough firepower, even without Eze, to hold the fort in next week's second leg in Norway. After missing out on the Europa League in a soap opera of missed deadlines, multi-club ownership and legal intrigue, Palace found themselves in a Conference play-off scramble.