Crystal Palace made history at Selhurst Park by booking a place in their first-ever European final.
Crystal Palace defeated Shakhtar Donetsk to secure a 5-2 aggregate victory and advance to the final of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Holding a 3-1 advantage from the first leg in Poland, Palace completed the job with a confident performance in front of a packed Selhurst Park crowd. The hosts thought they had opened the scoring early when Yeremy Pino finished calmly after racing through on goal, but the effort was ruled out for a narrow offside decision.
Palace eventually broke the deadlock in the 25th minute. Adam Wharton tested goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk with a long-range strike before Daniel Munoz delivered a dangerous low cross that was turned into the net by Pedro Henrique for an own goal.
Shakhtar responded through Eguinaldo, who curled an impressive effort into the top corner to level the score on the night. However, Palace regained control in the second half when Ismaila Sarr stretched to convert Tyrick Mitchell’s cross and seal the victory.
Sarr’s strike was his ninth goal of the tournament, making him the outright top scorer in this season’s competition.
Crystal Palace will now face Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final on 27 May in Leipzig after the Spanish side defeated Strasbourg in the other semi-final.
The result marks one of the biggest nights in Crystal Palace’s history as the club moves within one win of a first major European trophy.