Oliver Glasner had called for his side to be more ruthless in front of goal following their 0-0 draws, against Larnaca and in the Premier League against Leeds, over the past week.
And when Ismaila Sarr latched on to Adam Wharton’s deflected pass to put Palace in charge early on, his wish appeared to have been granted.
The forward was Palace’s main source of inspiration throughout the night and thought he had doubled the lead midway through the first half, but was correctly flagged offside when he headed in Daichi Kamada’s delivery from the left.
But worryingly from there, his side’s performance fell flat.
Larnaca had barely got out of their half until they levelled when the unmarked Enric Saborit climbed above Chris Richards to head in a set-piece.
However, Sarr came to the rescue to maintain the Eagles’ European dream and deserved a first senior hat-trick, with his late attempts hitting the woodwork.
On this form, he looks capable of helping his departing Austrian boss go out on a high at the end of the campaign, as Palace look to become the third team from London to lift the Conference League trophy in four years.