Spring is in the air and it’s all beaming smiles again at Crystal Palace. A sensational performance blew away Fiorentina as Jean-Philippe Mateta scored on his first start since the end of January, Tyrick Mitchell added a second before Ismaïla Sarr’s late header left Oliver Glasner’s side with one foot in the semi-finals in their debut European campaign.

Until now, Palace’s performances in front of their own fans in the Conference League have been far from impressive. But having had the luxury of three weeks to prepare for this match, Glasner showed why he has such a good record in knockout competitions in recent seasons as his team executed their gameplan perfectly.

Fiorentina – who have reached the last eight of the Conference League for four consecutive seasons and lost in two finals – had no answer and could have found themselves completely out of the tie by the break. But Sarr’s late strike after Mateta had missed a late sitter meant they will require a miraculous comeback when Palace travel to Florence for next week’s second leg.

Mateta was denied the opportunity to move to Serie A after failing his medical with Milan in January having made no secret of his desire to leave Palace. All appeared to have been forgiven when the France striker received a hearty reception after being substituted late on having scored from the spot, even if he could easily have ended the evening with a hat-trick after replacing the suspended Jørgen Strand Larsen.

“What a night. I dreamed about scoring that goal. I did and I am so happy,” said the France striker. Asked whether he had a message to the fans, Mateta added: “They know me, I keep working hard. They know I am always here and hopefully we can finish the job in Italy.”

One of the other massive benefits of Palace’s lack of games after a marathon season is that Daniel Muñoz is now fully fit after being plagued by a knee injury for the past couple of months. The Colombia defender was at his marauding best throughout as Mateta headed an early cross wide before Evann Guessand went close with a volley.

The Ivory Coast forward was just about to unleash another shot after being set up by Sarr when he was brought down inside the area by Dodô, with the Lithuanian referee immediately pointing to the spot despite Fiorentina’s protestations. Mateta stepped up and coolly rolled the ball past David de Gea before performing his trademark corner flag kick celebration to the delight of the home fans.

Palace smelled blood and things got even better for them eight minutes later when Muñoz acrobatically found Mateta inside the box. De Gea was able to make an excellent save from point-blank range, only for Mitchell to slam in the rebound.

It could have been even worse for Fiorentina if the lively Guessand or Maxence Lacroix could have taken chances just before the break. They looked relieved to reach the sanctuary of their dressing room only two goals down and still with 11 players after Dodô was lucky to escape a second booking for pulling back Guessand.

The start of the second half was delayed because De Gea was forced to clear a mass of streamers out of his goal that had been encouraged to accumulate in the net by some mischievous fans in the Holmesdale End. But a quick break that led to Giovanni Fabbian striking the crossbar from inside the area showed that Fiorentina were still fighting, even if Jack Harrison was probably offside in the buildup.

Daichi Kamada responded by firing inches wide in Palace’s next attack, although there was by no means the same fluency as in the first half.

Fiorentina couldn’t find a way past a defence that was well organised by Lacroix, who made his debut for France last week and has every chance of going to this summer’s World Cup if he continues this form.

Mateta must hope that Les Bleus manager, Didier Deschamps, wasn’t watching when he nodded wide from Sarr’s cross with the goal gaping, only for the Senegal forward to make amends on a night to remember for Palace and their supporters.