Crystal Palace fans led a chant celebrating the downing of Russian drones as the Eagles took on Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv in the Conference League on Thursday night.

Palace were playing their first-ever European match proper, but the game was played away from Kyiv’s traditional home due to Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia.

Rather than the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, the game took place at the Arena Lublin in Poland, with thousands of Crystal Palace fans making the trip to cheer on their side.

As the fans celebrated, though, they broke into song targeting Russia, who have been at war with Ukraine since invading the nation in February 2022.

Footage shared by Archie Rhind-Tutt of ESPN showed Palace fans chanting about Russian drones, singing: ‘There were eight Russian drones in the air’, then adding ‘Jean-Philippe Mateta shot them down.’

Crystal Palace fans celebrated the shooting of ’10 Russian drones’ during their Conference League clash against Ukrainian opposition

They added that striker ‘Jean-Philippe Mateta shot them down’ rather than NATO

The song was a variation of the ’10 German bombers’ made famous by England fans during international tournaments.

Last month, NATO shot down drones from Russia that were flying over Poland. Russia denied targeting the country, despite reports of debris damaging houses.

NATO, meanwhile, may soon make it easier to shoot down Russian aircraft after a wave of drone and fighter jet provocations on its eastern flank, one of the alliance’s top commanders has revealed.

Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chairman of NATO’s military committee, confirmed such a move was being considered but insisted it was too early to decide.

After a committee meeting, he said: ‘Considering that these [incursions] are pretty recent events, all of them are still [under] investigation, and of course, we still need a fundamental point, which is attribution, I would say it is still premature.

‘[Air defence] could be an option, depending on what will be the final assessment on what is being investigated right now. I would say that this could be one of the options but not the [only] option.’

Recent ‘hybrid attacks’ and Russian incursions have sparked outrage among European leaders, who have urged NATO to act more firmly.

Last week, Poland, which already brought down some of Vladimir Putin’s drones, vowed it would take down any hostile objects. It said it was considering fast-tracked laws that would give the military greater freedom to act.

Dynamo Kyev were playing at the Arena Lublin in Poland rather than their usual home stadium in Ukraine

Pictured: Explosions light up the sky during Russian drone and missile strikes

Eddie Nketiah was one of two players on the scoresheet as Oliver Glasner’s side got off to a winning start

Latvia’s president Edgars Rinkevics also said NATO must now move from ‘air policing’ to full ‘air defence.’ He told ERR, Estonia’s public broadcaster: ‘We currently rely only on the air policing mission. We need a shift in approach from air policing to an actual air defence mission.’

However, in a chilling warning, Russia warned that shooting down its planes would amount to a direct conflict with NATO.

Palace fans were also heard chanting: ‘F*** UEFA’ outside the ground on the back of having been relegated from the Europa League to the Conference League due to multi-club ownership rules. 

Dynamo Kiev 0-2 Crystal Palace match report by WILL PICKWORTH

Much of the build-up to Crystal Palace’s first ever group game in a major European competition was dominated by talk of Oliver Glasner’s future and Marc Guehi’s failed move to Liverpool.

But on a brilliant night for the club in the Polish city of Lublin, the Eagles sent a message to the rest of Europe, reminding them about the special team Glasner has built, after a dominant 2-0 victory over Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv set a club record 19-match unbeaten run.

‘I don’t think about this run,’ a humble Glasner said post-match. ‘Because it has already happened, so for me it is important what comes next, and next comes Everton.

‘Overall, I think we deserved the win. We have huge respect for Dynamo Kyiv, so playing away, starting with a win with three points in the Conference League is very positive.’

Palace were impressive from the start, although the clash was put into perspective when Kyiv’s players came out draped in Ukrainian flags amid the country’s ongoing conflict with Russia. Eagles fans were then heard singing songs praising the shooting down of Russian drones in a twist on the controversial ‘10 German bombers’ chant England supporters are often derided for.

A perceived weakness of Palace has been that they struggle when they have more possession, yet they showed no such issues and went ahead when Daniel Munoz superbly headed in Yeremy Pino’s looping cross.

It was fitting Munoz scored Palace’s first away goal in Europe given the wing back encapsulates everything good about Glasner’s team. He was brilliant all night and never stopped running – and was even handed a rare rest when academy graduate Rio Cardines came on for a senior bow late on.

But if the first goal was impressive, the second was even better. Pino, who has started his Palace career brightly, bamboozled Volodymyr Brazhko on the byline and found Eddie Nketiah with an audacious cross – and the former Arsenal man finished superbly, moments after he had another effort ruled out for offside.

Oliver Glasner was happy with his side’s performance as they set a club record unbeaten run

‘He (Pino) was very good,’ Glasner added. ‘The second assist was too quick for my eyes! But it was a fantastic assist and a very good performance.’

Nketiah also looked sharp, and after Palace’s squad depth has been questioned, things are looking much better following his and Ismaila Sarr’s return from injury – plus their three late summer additions.

The only blots on the night came when Will Hughes limped off and Borna Sosa was sent off after foolishly picking up two yellow cards in the space of three minutes.

Yet after a controlled and professional display, Glasner and the buoyant 2,600 travelling Palace fans – who continued to chant about winning the league – can smile all the way back to London.