Historic night for Palace as Eagles reach first ever European final | OneFootball

Crystal Palace made history at Selhurst Park by reaching their first ever European final after beating Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 to seal a 5-2 aggregate win in the Conference League semi-finals.

Holding a two-goal advantage from the first leg in Poland, Palace almost tightened their grip on the tie early on when Yeremy Pino raced through and finished calmly after latching onto Jean-Philippe Mateta’s flick-on. However, celebrations were cut short after a tight offside call ruled the goal out.

Shakhtar started brightly and caused problems in the opening stages, but Oliver Glasner’s side struck first midway through the opening half. Adam Wharton’s powerful long-range effort was pushed away by Dmytro Riznyk, with Daniel Munoz reacting quickest to drive the rebound across goal, where Pedro Henrique turned the ball into his own net.

The visitors responded well and levelled on the night through Eguinaldo, who produced a brilliant turn and finish into the top corner after receiving the ball just inside the area.

Palace regained control after the break and Ismaila Sarr made sure of their place in the final when he slid home Tyrick Mitchell’s low cross from close range. It was Sarr’s ninth goal of the competition, making him the outright top scorer in this season’s Conference League.

The Eagles will now face Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig as they chase the first European trophy in the club’s history.

Incidents: The story of the match

Crystal Palace Official Line-ups:

Dean Henderson, Daniel Muñoz, Maxence Lacroix, Chris Richards, Jaydee Canvot, Tyrick Mitchell, Daichi Kamada, Adam Wharton, Ismaila Sarr, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Yéremy Pino

Shakhtar Donetsk Official Line-ups:

Dmytro Riznyk, Vinicius Tobias, Mykola Matvienko, Valeriy Bondar, Pedro Henrique, Oleg Ocheretko, Marlon Gomes, Pedrinho, Alisson Santana, Kauã Elias, Eguinaldo

1':

The match begins

Yeremi Pino scores to make it 1-0, assisted by Jean Philippe Mateta.

25':

GOAL Shakhtar Donetsk: Pedro Henrique (Shakhtar Donetsk) socres an own goal!

Eguinaldo scores, bringing the match to 1-1.

34':

GOAL Shakhtar Donetsk: Eguinaldo (Shakhtar Donetsk) scores!

Eguinaldo scores goal number 1 in the competition (8 matches)

52':

GOAL Crystal Palace: Ismaila Sarr (Crystal Palace) scores!

Ismaila Sarr scores goal number 9 in the competition (12 matches)

998':

The referee whistles for the end of the match