The Eagles were resilient in the face of an aerial bombardment from their Norwegian hosts, who took every opportunity – throw-ins, free-kicks, and even goal kicks at one stage – to get the ball as close to Palace’s goal as possible.
Whilst Palace did create a handful of good chances in the end, it was the Eagles’ defensive display – backed by a roaring 1,700 Palace fans who had made the long journey from South London – which sealed a 1-0 win on aggregate in the tie, and with it, our first qualification for a major European competition.
The Manager told his post-match press conference: “I think that's the right headline: ‘job done.’
“We could see we weren’t really having good possession today, especially in the final third finding the right spaces or being accurate enough, making the runs, the passes, and many crosses that we didn't find today, we didn't have the right movements when we passed, then we lost the ball too easily many times.
“But on the other side, there are those days – and also we could see a few players were struggling with the AstroTurf. Then it's important to keep the clean sheet, and this is what we did. It's not easy playing against Fredrikstad: all their long balls, getting the game into the final third, it’s very simple, but it's a good thing to do, and then with the long throw-ins, with the set-plays, they're always having five or six players and creating chaos in our box.
