Strand Larsen talks through sensational semi-final goal
Jørgen Strand Larsen was a picture of delight after scoring his first-ever European club goal – and what a goal it was, too.
With Palace 2-1 up in the latter stages of the Conference League semi-final first leg, but under the cosh from an energetic Shakhtar side, the next goal was of vital importance in Krakow.
Thanks to Strand Larsen – and some fine approach play involving Daichi Kamada and Ismaïla Sarr – it went the Eagles’ way, with the Norwegian cutting inside a defender and dinking the ‘keeper to send the Palace fans inside the Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium into delirium.
Afterwards, recalling his goal, Strand Larsen said to Palace TV: “Obviously Daichi does well. He’s a top player and I think normally you can play Ish [Sarr] through there, because he's normally the one that's the fastest! But I think he dragged the defender a little bit to him, so it opened up a space for me.
“It was a great pass and I think I killed the angle a little bit for myself, so I had to go in and trust my skills, which you don't see too much! But yeah, it was great, it was just a great feeling.
“You know, for a striker, when you don't score for a little while, there is a lot of talking. But I've been keeping confident and trusting in myself and been good at training.
“Obviously me and JP [Mateta] are fighting for a spot, but we've found a really good balance now, to play either of us sometimes and, if we need both of us on the pitch, we're ready for it. He's a top striker as well, so I'm just pleased to be here now. It was great to top it off with a goal.”
I wish I'd scored at the other end!
—Jørgen Strand Larsen
Strand Larsen’s only regret from last night? “I wish I'd scored at the other end!” he laughed.
“But yeah, it’s just massive for the fans coming here and supporting us.
“We need that. You never know when there’s going to be a European semi-final again, and we want to make that for next year – so we need to build on this momentum now and go and win on Thursday, and then hopefully have a final in the future.
“But let's take it one day at a time, one game at a time. Now we're getting ready for Sunday [against Bournemouth], and we want to finish off well in the Premier League as well – so we've got loads of games to look forward to.”
Having made such an impact off the bench midway through the second-half, the Norwegian observed: “I think obviously coming on in such a big game is first of all really cool – I'm proud to be here, and I'm proud to be part of this team.
“Without taking off, obviously we've set ourselves in a really good position. We know there's a leg more to go at Selhurst, so we need everyone there to cheer us on. But obviously we've put ourselves in a really good position and I'm proud of the boys.”
“It’s a dream come true [to be back at Selhurst next week], seriously. We've put ourselves in a position now where we can hopefully still go out and attack in the game and score goals.
“But obviously we're two goals up so we need to use that momentum and go and win the game. I know we can do it, so let's go and do it.”