Crystal Palace won 1-0 at Selhurst Park courtesy of Jean-Philippe Mateta's second-half goal, leaving them close to their first appearance in European competition proper via the Conference League. Palace dominated possession but found Fredrikstad stubborn, with the Norwegian side producing no first-leg shots on target yet defending resolutely. Fredrikstad sold 8,000 tickets before general sale and attracted large domestic crowds, creating a potentially hostile, cold AstroTurf environment. Palace remain favourites to progress despite Fredrikstad's resilience, lower UEFA coefficient and recent poor form in Europa League qualifying and domestic results.
"[Fredrikstad] are in a qualifier for a reason as well. They're no team to sleep on. They played a good game [and] they're a tough team to break down. "It'll be kind of a hostile environment. We're going to be playing on AstroTurf and it's probably going to be cold as well. "So it's not necessarily a game we're looking forward to, but it's definitely a game we know that we have to win."
"They're tough, but it's kind of what we've all dreamt of,"
"enormous interest" from fans who "do not support Fredrikstad but who want to see a Premier League team play a significant match in Norway"
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