Soccer
Crystal Palace’s first-leg heroics proved enough to guide them to the Conference League semi-finals as they beat Fiorentina 4-2 on aggregate, after a 2-1 second-leg defeat.
Following a 3-0 win at Selhurst Park last week, Oliver Glasner’s Eagles had plenty of breathing room, and an early strike from Ismaila Sarr in Florence made their position even more comfortable.
Albert Gudmundsson’s penalty and Cher Ndour’s long-range piledriver ensured Fiorentina turned Thursday’s second leg around, but they were unable to find another goal to tee up a grandstand finish, leaving Palace to face Shakhtar Donetsk in the last four.
A driving run through the centre from Sarr almost resulted in a third-minute lead for Palace, but Daniel Munoz could only flash his shot past David De Gea’s far post.
But the same duo combined to extend Palace’s aggregate lead in the 17th minute, with Sarr beating De Gea with a towering header from Munoz’s centre.
That goal left the Viola needing to score four to even force extra time, but the Serie A side did respond positively, with Gudmundsson keeping his cool from 12 yards on the half-hour mark, following Jaydee Canvot’s foul on Rolando Mandragora.
Palace were left with a couple of big battle scars as both Adam Wharton and Maxence Lacroix went off injured before the start of the second half, and Fiorentina had a glimmer of hope when Ndour drilled into the bottom-left corner from 25 yards out in the 53rd minute.
But Dean Henderson denied Gudmundsson and Roberto Piccoli was wayward with a couple of headers as Fiorentina, for all their pressure, fell short of a memorable comeback.
Shakhtar await last season’s FA Cup winners after defeating AZ Alkmaar 5-2 on aggregate, while the other semi-final will be between Rayo Vallecano and Strasbourg.
The Spanish side held off a comeback attempt from AEK Athens for a 4-3 aggregate success, while Gary O’Neil’s team stormed to a 4-0 home win over Mainz, having trailed 2-0 after the first leg in Germany.
We’re on our wayyyyyyy
See you in the UEFA Conference League semi-final… pic.twitter.com/ChFKtNSqYK
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) April 16, 2026
Data Debrief: Sarr climbs Senegalese charts as Palace do enough
Palace’s seven-match unbeaten run in the Conference League (W4 D3) may be over, but Glasner will not care one bit with the Eagles now within 180 minutes of the final.
They had to do things differently in Florence, after creating seven big chances and 3.2 expected goals (xG) in the first leg. They mustered 1.26 xG from nine shots here, compared to Fiorentina’s 1.76 from 16 attempts, with the result largely reflecting that balance.
But it was not enough for the Viola, with Sarr’s early goal giving Palace an additional comfort blanket. Their five headed goals are the most in the Conference League this season, and Sarr is now the joint-second highest Senegalese goalscorer in major UEFA tournaments (13, also Mamadou Niang and Dame N’Doye), behind Sadio Mane (31).
Read MoreSoccerNews