Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano have reached the final of the UEFA Europa Conference League after overcoming Shakhtar Donetsk and Strasbourg in the second leg of the semi-finals.
Crystal Palace beat visiting Shakhtar Donetsk 2–1, having already won the first leg away from home 3–1, to advance 5–2 on aggregate over the two matches.
The English side opened the scoring in the 25th minute through an own goal by Shakhtar player Pedrinho, before Brazilian Eguinaldo equalized for the Ukrainian team in the 34th minute.
In the second half, Senegalese winger Ismaïla Sarr secured Crystal Palace’s place in the final by scoring the winning goal in the 52nd minute.
In the other semi-final, Rayo Vallecano advanced to the final after beating Strasbourg 1–0, having also won the first leg in Spain by the same scoreline, for a 2–0 aggregate victory.
Polish forward Aleksander Żurawski scored the only goal of the match in the 42nd minute, repeating the first-leg script, where he had also scored the winner.
Strasbourg goalkeeper Augusto Batalla also played a key role, saving a penalty in the fourth minute of stoppage time, taken by Strasbourg’s Julio Enciso.
The final between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano is scheduled for 27 May at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany.
