Crystal Palace made it to their first-ever European final after a 5-2 aggregate win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday night, with manager Oliver Glasner in line for a fairytale ending to his time at the club.http://goal.com
Following a 3-1 advantage from the first leg of the UEFA Conference League semi-final, the Eagles doubled their lead in the first half at Selhurst Park after Pedro Henrique’s own goal.
Although Eguinaldo brought Shakhtar level, in-form Ismaila Sarr found the net for his ninth goal of the competition just after the second half kickoff to put Palace back into the lead at 2-1.
Glasner’s side will now take on Rayo Vallecano in the final in Leipzig at the end of the month after their 2-0 aggregate victory over Strasbourg.
“It’s incredible, especially for this club, the relationship that players have with their fans is just fantastic,” said Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson to TNT Sports. “The manager has given this team a belief that we can win anything, and after the season we’ve had and all of the games, to reach another final is just unbelievable.”
The south London club got their second-leg lead in the 25th minute through a powerful shot from Adam Wharton that Dmytro Riznyk could only deflect out, with the loose ball being turned in by Daniel Munoz at close range, the ball cannoning off Pedro Henrique before rippling the net.
Eguinaldo got Shakhtar level through a well-placed finish into the top corner which left Henderson helpless to save the ball.
Palace should have gone back into the lead just before halftime, with Jean-Philippe Mateta’s inventive bicycle kick hitting the post at full stretch.
The tie was sealed for Palace a short while into the second half after Tyrick Mitchell whipped a cross into the box for Sarr, who tapped the ball into the back of the net for his ninth goal of the Conference League competition, with Crystal Palace able to see the rest of the game out with minimal fuss.
The final in Leipzig on the 27th of May will be Glasner’s last game as the club’s manager after announcing earlier in the season that he would leave at the end of his contract next month.
The 51-year-old Austrian, who was appointed in early 2024, has led Palace through what can only be described as a golden period, including a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in last season’s FA Cup final, which resulted in the club lifting its first-ever major trophy.
They also overcame Liverpool in the Community Shield on penalties.
The Conference League is the third-tier competition in Europe that began in 2021, and two of its four winners have been London-based teams (West Ham, 2023, and Chelsea last year).
Palace’s journey to this competition was initiated by being demoted to the Conference League at the start of the season due to a UEFA multi-club ownership ruling. Winning this would see them earn a place in next season’s Europa League.
Glasner won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022 and at Wednesday’s pre-match press conference for this tie said that his players were hungry for more ‘honey’ after the FA Cup final and can achieve a sweet end to their campaign.
