Crystal Palace beat Shakhtar to reach Conference League final

Crystal Palace created club history as they defeated Shakhtar Donetsk in the Conference League semi-finals to move into their first ever European final.

The Eagles led 3-1 after the first leg a week ago in Poland, and thought they had stretched their advantage when Yeremy Pino raced through and slotted a calm finish into the net.

However, the winger was ruled offside following an extremely tight offside decision when he collected Jean-Philippe Mateta’s flick-on.

But, at a raucous Selhurst Park for the second-leg tie, Palace took the lead in the 25th minute.

Adam Wharton’s powerful 25-yard strike was pushed away by goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk, but it dropped for Daniel Munoz, whose low cross from a tight angle was steered into his own net by Pedro Henrique.

Shakhtar battled back to make it 1-1 on the night when Eguinaldo collected a Pedro Henrique pass and curled a fine effort into the top corner.

Mateta then went close to restoring Palace’s three-goal overall advantage just before half-time, only to hit the post with a spectacular scissor-kick.

But Ismaila Sarr sealed his side’s 5-2 aggregate success when he stretched to slide the ball into the net from Tyrick Mitchell’s low left-wing cross.

It was his ninth goal in the competition to make him the outright top scorer this term.

Palace will face Rayo Vallecano in the final on Wednesday, 27 May in Leipzig, Germany, after the Spanish side defeated French outfit Strasbourg – managed by Gary O’Neil – 2-0 on aggregate in the other semi-final.