Crystal Palace cruised to a dominant victory against Shelbourne in Dublin to strengthen their chances of claiming a place in the last 16 of the Conference League.

First-half goals from Christantus Uche, Eddie Nketiah and Yeremy Pino put Palace in complete control, with the only surprise being they could not add any goals after the break.

The Eagles, who won the FA Cup last season to qualify for European football for the first time, are now ninth in the league phase with one match to go, at home against Finnish side KuPS next Thursday.

The top eight sides will move straight into the last 16, while those placed between ninth and 24th will play in the two-legged knockout play-off round.

Palace began the day 18th, with two wins and two losses, and boss Oliver Glasner named a strong line-up, which included England internationals Marc Guehi and Adam Wharton.

Guehi had an early chance but could not get a proper contact on a shot, before Uche finished off a fine passing move to put the visitors ahead in the 11th minute.

Palace thought they should have had a penalty when Nketiah appeared to be fouled, but it did not matter as he then doubled the Eagles' lead with a close-range tap-in after Uche's shot had bounced off the post.

Chris Richards headed against the bar before Pino sealed the victory with a fine individual goal and finish in the 37th minute.

Shelbourne, who have one point from five matches and are heading for European elimination, battled throughout but were lucky to not go 4-0 behind as a shot from Romain Esse bounced off both posts and stayed out.

For Palace, this result continues a superb phase in the club's history that has seen them win the FA Cup in May, the Community Shield in August and now sit fourth in the Premier League table.

The Eagles' FA Cup success should have earned them a place in the second-tier Europa League, only for them to be demoted into the Conference League as Uefa ruled that Palace were in breach of multi-club ownership rules.

However, they were then installed as one of the favourites to win this competition, with two of the previous four winners being Premier League sides - West Ham in 2023 and Chelsea last season.

Two losses in their opening four games, 1-0 at home to Cypriot side Larnaca and a 2-1 reverse against Strasbourg in France, meant Palace needed to gain a positive result against the 2024 League of Ireland champions.

That was reflected in Glasner's team selection, with only four changes to the starting 11 from the side that beat Fulham on Sunday. Uche was one of those and came in to score and get an assist on his first start for the club.

It was hard to see how the evening could have gone better for Glasner, whose side are in the middle of a frantic 15-game run between 22 November and 10 January.

This was their third of eight games in December and they entertain Manchester City on Sunday before the final Conference League match of this stage against KuPS.

But Glasner will have to keep rotating his squad with the KuPS clash coming only 48 hours before Palace play at Leeds in the Premier League.

With the three points quickly secured, Palace were able to then rest key players.

Daichi Kamada, Wharton and Pino were all taken off at half-time, with Nketiah being replaced midway through the second half. Glasner was also able to hand a debut to 17-year-old striker Benji Casey.

Shelbourne finished the match still yet to score in this tournament although Daniel Kelly had an injury-time effort saved by visiting goalkeeper Walter Benitez.

Crystal Palace entertain Manchester City on Sunday (14:00 GMT) and then welcome KuPs to Selhurst Park for a Conference League game on Thursday (20:00 GMT).

The League of Ireland season finished at the start of November so already-eliminated Shelbourne's last game of 2025 will be when they play in Slovenia against Celje on Thursday.