Palace hit the post! After soaking up a spell of pressure, Palace push forward and Mateta connects acrobatically with a cross. His effort beats Riznyk but clips the outside of the post.
No penalty! The ball hit Mateta on the thigh and bounced on to his arm – and VAR doesn’t seek to intervene after the referee waves play on.
40 mins: Palace are hanging on a bit as half-time approaches, and Shakhtar have a corner, pinged towards the near post by Alisson – and there’s a big shout for handball!
There’s a goal at Villa Park – but which way has it gone, John Brewin?
37 mins: Shakhtar still need two goals to pull level on aggregate, but they look capable. Alisson is involved again here, thudding an effort a few feet over the bar.
35 mins: Woof! Seconds after the restart, Sarr sends a long shot not far wide of goal. The pace is relentless.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-1 Shakhtar (4-2 agg) Eguinaldo 33'
Shakhtar keep the ball and Henrique slips it sideways to Eguinaldo, who takes a touch and gently lifts the ball into the top corner! There’s a split-second of confusion before the away fans celebrate.
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32 mins: Munoz storms upfield and hits a shot straight at Riznyk, and Shakhtar counter at equivalent speed, with Alisson’s shot well blocked at the far post …
29 mins: Shakhtar make a change, with right-back Tobias replaced by Alaa Ghram. Not sure if that’s due to an injury or whether the visitors will change shape.
28 mins: With the home fans in full voice, Mateta nicks the ball after a defensive mix-up, and sends in a low shot that Riznyk saves comfortably enough.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-0 Shakhtar (4-1 on agg) Pedro Henrique og 25'
It works perfectly as Palace pour forward, with Wharton’s shot from the edge of the area parried out wide by Riznyk. Munoz gets to it first and his attempted cross flies in off the unfortunate Pedro Henrique!
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24 mins: Shakhtar are keeping the ball in the Palace half, moving it around patiently with their hosts happy to try and hit them on the break …
21 mins: Moments later, another ball into the Palace area causes flutters of anxiety, before Alisson wins a corner … which Ismaila Sarr clears smartly away for a Palace throw.
20 mins: Alisson Santana almost stretches to reach a diagonal ball, but Henderson is there to collect it.
18 mins: Kamada intercepts in midfield and Palace break away; he plays in Mitchell down the left and the wing-back does brilliantly to shake off Tobias at the byline. His low cross is begging to be smashed into the net, but nobody’s there to meet it.
16 mins: Another Brazilian gets involved (there are seven in Shakhtar’s starting line-up) as right-back Tobias swings in a hopeful cross with the outside of his boot.
14 mins: Shakhtar move the ball around the Palace half before Elias’ downward header is blocked. Mateta looks to pick up the loose ball but is scythed down by Bondar, who is booked.
12 mins: One of Shakhtar’s Brazilian cohort, Alisson Santana, tries but fails to connect with a scissor kick.
No goal! Chris Richards heaves the ball upfield and Mateta nods it on for Yeremy Pino, who races through and finds the bottom corner – but there’ll be a VAR check, with Pino looking very close to offside. And the goal is (eventually) chalked off.
8 mins: Mateta looks for Sarr with a through ball that’s cut out with little fuss.
7 mins: Palace push forward through Kamada, but Pino’s backheel is a little awkward for Mitchell, stalling his forward momentum.
5 mins: Ocheretko is down after a clash of heads with Daniel Munoz, and looks dazed as he gets to his feet after a chat with the physio.
4 mins: Palace pounce on a loose pass and Pino looks for Kamada down the left, but the attack is quickly shut down.
3 mins: Now Eguinaldo gets on to Elias’ path and shoots low at Henderson – before the flag goes up.
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2 mins: An early sight of goal for Shakhtar, with Elias sending a scuffed effort wide. A helpful reminder for Palace that this is far from over.
1 min: Wharton’s early attempted through ball runs through to Riznyk in the Shakhtar goal.
First half
Here we go, then. Palace are in their usual red and blue stripes, Shakhtar in a cream-coloured change kit. Referee Alejandro Hernández gets us under way.
“Glad All Over” is bellowed out around the ground as both sets of players walk on, the Shakhtar team draped in Ukraine flags. Kick-off is moments away …
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There is, of course, another big European tie tonight. With an English team guaranteed to reach the Europa League final, Palace are bidding to complete an unprecedented full set of three European finals featuring an English team this season.
It’s been a busy week for this sort of thing …
“I live in a part of California with a sizeable community of Ukrainian expats and have met many cool people through pickup footy,” writes Peter Oh. “I wanted Ukraine to qualify for the World Cup and I feel for Shakhtar Donetsk, having been displaced from their home city and ground due to military occupation.
“The task of overturning the deficit is probably too much, but I’ll be rooting for them in their bid to see out this tie with pride. And if the Fifa Peace Prize were a legitimate award, the Polish FA and others who have worked to provide a temporary home for Shakhtar and the Ukraine team would be worthy winners.” Well said, sir.
Rogorn Magadorn has run the numbers so you (I) don’t have to …
“In today’s two European semi-finals not involving English teams it could be decided which other nation will get a fifth Champions League team (via league placing). It’s either Spain or Germany, and it all depends not on Bayern or Real Madrid, but on Freiburg (who face Braga in the Europa semis) and Rayo Vallecano.
“If one of the two makes it to their final and the other doesn’t, their country will get that fifth spot. If none make it, Spain get it. If both make it, then it gets more complicated, as it could depend on whether Rayo made it by drawing, losing or winning their game today.”
In the Bundesliga, Leverkusen, Stuttgart and Hoffenheim are currently battling for fourth place, all locked on 58 points. In La Liga, it’s likely that Real Betis would benefit, as they currently sit in fifth place.
In his pre-game presser, Oliver Glasner warned his players to focus on tonight, and not his impending departure. “I made my decision and I have my reasons, but we want to end the season in the best possible way – and now we have the chance to do it.
“Now is not the time to get melancholic. It’s about staying focused. I tell the players very often: don’t do anything for me, do it for yourselves, do it for the club, do it for the fans, because winning the Conference League means European football again next year at Selhurst.”
“The players tasted the honey last year with the FA Cup. This year it’s the Conference League and they want honey again. They won’t be happy with just avocado, so they want it a bit sweeter.” Honey and avocado? Maybe he’s after the Fulham job.
Team news
Crystal Palace (4-3-3): Henderson (c); Richards, Lacroix, Convot; Muñoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Sarr, Mateta, Pino.
Subs from: Matthews, Benítez, Lerma, Johnson, Clyne, Hughes, Strand Larsen, Riad, Rodney, Devenny, Cardines.
Shakhtar Donetsk (4-1-4-1): Riznyk; Tobias, Bondar, Matviyenko (c), Pedro Henrique; Ocheretko; Alisson Santana, Pedrinho, Marlon Gomes, Eguinaldo; Kauã Elias.
Subs from: Tvardovskyi, Traoré, Kryskiv, Newertton, Isaque, Azarov, Ghram, Bondarenko, Nazaryna, Lucas Ferreira, Luca Meirelles, Obah.
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Tonight’s other semi-final features Rayo Vallecano and Strasbourg, with the Spanish side taking a slender 1-0 first-leg lead with them to France.
Alemão glanced in the only goal to give Rayo Vallecano a precious 1-0 lead in the Uefa Conference League semi-final first leg against visiting Strasbourg on Thursday.
In a meeting between two teams seeking to reach a first European final, Alemão rose at the near post in the 54th minute to meet a Unai López corner. He missed the ball with his head but it hit his right shoulder and lobbed in to the far corner of the net.
In an energetic but scrappy match in which the hosts collected four yellow cards and the visitors five, the French side started strongly.
Roared on by a raucous crowd at their 15,000-capacity Vallecas Stadium in Madrid, the hosts wrested away control. They managed 24 strikes at goal compared to Strasbourg’s total of five. AFP
Ed was also in Krakow for that first leg, where Palace took a very early lead and largely kept their hosts at bay, winning 3-1. Perhaps that’s where Luis Enrique and PSG got the idea.
Despite arriving here two goals behind after the first leg in Poland, Shakhtar Donetsk cannot be written off. As Ed Aarons writes, the Ukrainian club have overcome much greater struggles in the last 10 years.
Preamble
Back in April 1962, Crystal Palace hosted Real Madrid in a friendly to christen Selhurst Park’s new floodlights. Alfredo Di Stéfano graced the pitch with “effortless ease at walking pace” (according to the Croydon Advertiser) and his team ran out 4-3 winners.
Save for a solitary Intertoto Cup tie and a few Anglo-Italian Cup outings, that was pretty much it for Palace and European football, until this very season. It’s been a steep learning curve – demoted from Europa to Conference League, Palace had to progress via the playoff round while planning for the summer departure of Oliver Glasner.
Having dispatched Zrinjski Mostar, AEK Larnaca and Fiorentina in the knockout rounds, Palace kick off the second leg with a 3-1 advantage over Shakhtar Donetsk and a major European final in touching distance. It’s the biggest European night in SE25 since Alfredo and co strutted their stuff there some 64 years ago. And it’s live!
