Palace Overcome Shakhtar, Secure Spot in Inaugural European Championship Match

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Crystal Palace swept past Shakhtar Donetsk 5-2 on aggregate to reach their first-ever European final on Thursday, giving manager Oliver Glasner the chance of a fairytale end to his golden reign.

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The Eagles led 3-1 after the first leg of the UEFA Conference League semi-final and went further ahead in the first half at a crackling Selhurst Park, courtesy of an own goal from Pedro Henrique.

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Eguinaldo levelled but Ismaila Sarr continued his rich vein of form by scoring his ninth goal of the competition early in the second period to make it 2-1 on the night.

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Glasner’s men will face Rayo Vallecano in the final in Leipzig later this month after the Spanish side beat Strasbourg 2-0 on aggregate.

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“It’s incredible, obviously for this football club, you see the connections between the players and supporters, it’s fantastic, it’s unbelievable,” Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson told TNT Sports.

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“The manager came in, he made this team believe we can win any game. It’s been a difficult season obviously with the amount of games we’ve played, we’ve delivered another final, which is fantastic.”

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The south London side took the lead in the second leg in the 25th minute after a surging attack, with Adam Wharton at the centre of the move.

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Dmytro Riznyk palmed away Wharton’s stinging long-range shot but was helpless as Daniel Munoz’s follow-up from a tight angle flicked off Henrique and flew past him.

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Eguinaldo made it 1-1 for the exiled Ukrainian team with a nonchalant finish into the top corner, leaving Henderson rooted to the spot.

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Jean-Philippe Mateta crashed a shot against the post with an audacious scissor-kick shortly before interval as the home side continued to threaten.

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The tie was effectively over soon after the restart when Sarr turned in Tyrick Mitchell’s cross from close range and Palace saw out the game comfortably.

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– History makers –

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The final in Leipzig on May 27 will be Glasner’s final match in charge after he announced earlier this season that he would leave when his contract expires next month.

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The 51-year-old Austrian, who arrived early in 2024, has overseen a golden period for Palace, guiding them to a 1-0 win over Manchester City in last season’s FA Cup final — the club’s first major trophy.

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Palace then beat Liverpool on penalties in the season-opening Community Shield.

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The Conference League, Europe’s third-tier competition, was only launched in 2021 and two of the four winners so far have been London clubs — West Ham in 2023 and Chelsea last season.

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Palace are only in the competition because they were demoted from the Europa League before the start of the season after UEFA ruled they had breached multi-club ownership rules.

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Winning the Conference League would guarantee entry into next season’s Europa League.

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Glasner, who won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022, was in sparkling form in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, saying his players wanted to taste the “honey” again after winning the FA Cup last year.

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Now they have the chance of a sweetest end to their season.

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AFP

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