Crystal Palace 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk (5-2 agg): Sarr nets winner as Eagles reach first ever European final | OneFootball

Eagles are flying to Leipzig for Conference League final

Crystal Palace soared into their first European final after Conference League top scorer Ismaila Sarr scored his ninth goal in the competition to claim a 2-1 semi-final second-leg victory over Shakhtar Donetsk.

For at least a certain generation of Eagles supporters, this was undoubtedly the most important fixture in nearly 102 years of Selhurst Park history, one the hosts entered with a 3-1 first-leg advantage and went on to settle the tie 5-2 on aggregate.

Daniel Munoz instigated a Pedro Henrique own goal to open the scoring in the 25th minute, cancelled out by Eguinaldo’s stylish wake-up call of an equaliser before the break.

The instrumental Sarr punched Palace’s tickets to a Leipzig final against Rayo Vallecano seven minutes into the second half, extending his scoring streak to five consecutive Conference League matches.

The visitors, exiled from their home city for 12 years and forced to play their European “home” games in Poland due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, emerged from the tunnel wrapped in Ukrainian flags.

Eagles captain Dean Henderson was the first goalkeeper to be tested, comfortably saving a low Eguinaldo effort moments after Kaua Elias directed a shot wide.

Yeremy Pino thought he had fired Palace in front when had the ball in the back of the net in the 10th minute, but a VAR check deemed the Spaniard to be marginally offside in the build-up.

There was no doubt about the opener, which began with some good work by Daichi Kamada to win the ball inside Palace half after the Eagles absorbed a period of pressure.

The ball was eventually worked to Adam Wharton, who, after a fine run and a lovely move, was denied by a diving Dmytro Riznyk, who could only parry the ball to his left.

Munoz pounced, and roared with delight after his follow-up took a deflection off the unfortunate Pedro Henrique and crossed the line.

Jean-Philippe Mateta and Munoz both tried to double Palace’s advantage before Shakhtar reduced the deficit back to two goals nine minutes later.

Pedro Henrique made some inroads into making up for his involvement in the opener, teeing up Eguinaldo who calmly controlled the ball then curled it brilliantly into the top corner.

Mateta nearly added an acrobatic second just before the break, clipping the post with a scissor-kick volley, moments after he was the subject of a denied penalty shout from Shakhtar.

Henderson stuck out a leg to deny Kaua Elias shortly after the second half kicked off, then Sarr fired Palace in front.

The Senegal international was teed up by the sliding Tyrick Mitchell and diverted the cross in via the far post, where Mateta was also lurking.

Jorgen Strand Larsen replaced Mateta in the 66th minute and had a crack at goal, and Nathaniel Clyne came on for his 250th Palace appearance in a late Oliver Glasner triple substitution.

It was a fitting full-circle moment for the Eagles academy product, whose side wrote a new chapter in their history books when the final whistle blew a short few minutes later.