Despite losing the second leg 2-1 in Florence, Crystal Palace defeated Fiorentina 4-2 on aggregate to book their place in the Conference League semi-finals.
When Ismaila Sarr scored an early header, it looked like it would be smoother sailing for the Eagles, who at the time held a four-goal lead in total following a 3-0 win at Selhurst Park.
However, the Italian side fought back on the night, scoring through early injury substitutions of Adam Wharton and Maxence Lacroix.
La Viola’s performance in the second leg somewhat compensated for their poor performance in the first leg, but it was not enough to prevent Palace from reaching their first European semi-final, where they would face Shakhtar Donetsk. Palace become the fifth English club to reach the last four of the Conference League, following Chelsea, West Ham, Leicester and Aston Villa.
Jaydee Cambot gave Fiorentina the first glimmer of hope when he brought down Rolando Mandragora in the box and caught the Fiorentina man late. Albert Gudmundsson kept his cool and sent Dean Henderson flying in the opposite direction from the penalty spot.
When the penalty was awarded, play was stopped because Wharton felt discomfort and collapsed, although there was no obvious contact.
The England international, who has endured a fair share of injuries this season, limped off and was replaced by Jefferson Lerma after playing just 30 minutes. Lacroix quickly followed suit and Oliver Glasner seized the opportunity, bringing on Chadi Riyad for the French centre-back just before half-time. But after the game, Lacroix posted an image of himself celebrating his victory and referring to his injury with the caption, “No problem, thank you.”
Palace started the second half without the presence of Jean-Philippe Mateta, who did not come on after half-time to be replaced by Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Cher N’Dour’s stunning mid-range goal came during a promising spell for Fiorentina, but despite a tenacious escape to test Henderson, the night’s victory was wasted.
Conference league semifinals
Crystal Palace will face Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Conference League semi-finals after the Ukrainian side defeated AZ Alkmaar 5-2 in the second leg to book their place in the last four.
Palace have a second-leg advantage and will host Shakhtar in the return leg at Selhurst Park, after a first-leg trip to Poland where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine meant a home game.
The first leg will be held on April 30th and the second leg on May 7th.
Palace continues to defy adversity as more history beckons
Crystal Palace were not supposed to be in this competition. However, they still continue to make history even after being relegated to the Conference League as a result of UEFA’s ownership rules.
Palace are so close to reaching the final in Leipzig, but it hasn’t been all smooth sailing.
Glasner will be hoping to pay homage to the most successful period in Palace’s history by lifting the club’s first European trophy.
But in his own words, there were times during the season when he felt abandoned. Palace had lost key players in the summer and in January and were not ready for the workload.
Injuries also rocked Palace, resulting in a decline in domestic form.
But despite the adversity, Palace continue to pursue their European dreams.
Henderson: Writing a new chapter in this book is phenomenal.
Palace keeper Dean Henderson told TNT Sports:
“This is unbelievable for this football club, last year in the FA Cup, but to continue to move forward and write a new chapter in this book is phenomenal.
“Our fans have stood by us during difficult times this season, so we hope we can deliver something really special to them.
“It was a very tough game. You never know what’s going to happen. 3-0 is a dangerous scoreline, but we managed to get through, so don’t worry!”
“I didn’t see the second one. That’s the goal (of winning the competition). With this group, in business time of the season, we stick together.”
“Today was our day and now we need to keep moving forward and build momentum.”
Glasner: “We had a tough battle, but we deserved to be in the semifinals.”
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner said his side deserved a place in the semi-finals despite struggling in the second leg.
“The quarterfinals are never easy,” Glasner told TNT Sports.
“Then it was a little bit tougher than we could have gotten off to a great start by taking the lead. We had a big chance after a couple of minutes with Daniel Muñoz, but the penalty that followed gave Fiorentina their faith back.”
“To be honest, it was a very difficult game for the players to control as well. Submitting two players in the first half reduced the options we had to deal with. That’s why we brought JP (Mateta) on as a substitute already at half-time because we knew he probably wouldn’t be able to play for 90 minutes.”
“And in the second half, it was a great attack. All of a sudden we were down 2-1, pretty early in the second half. And the reaction then was great as well.”
“I don’t think we played really attacking football back then, but today we defended very well and the team showed great resilience. And in the knockout stages you don’t always play your best football. It takes a lot of different skills, but today we were really resilient, worked hard and came together and the team did it.”
“So I think we didn’t give them a big chance after that. That’s why I think through these two games we deserved to be in the semifinals.”
Coach Glasner revealed in the postgame press conference that Wharton had to leave the game because he felt soreness in his adductor muscle.
“That’s why he had to leave the England camp last week. Let’s see how bad it is,” Glassner said.
Glasner said LaCroix suffered a medial ligament injury in his knee, but hopes it’s “not too serious.”
