Crystal Palace withstand Fiorentina comeback to reach Conference League semi-finals

Entering the match with a three-goal advantage from the initial encounter, Fiorentina bore the responsibility of pushing forward aggressively, yet their faint prospects suffered a major setback right at the start.

Rather than sitting back, Palace extended their overall lead within the first 20 minutes as Daniel Munoz charged along the right flank and delivered an precise cross for Ismaïla Sarr to head in and put the Eagles in front during the evening.

Fiorentina escaped going two down to the same player when the away side lost possession immediately after the restart, allowing Sarr to break clear on goal, though De Gea blocked his shot with his legs this time.

The Italian side received a boost in the middle of the opening period after Jaydee Canvot's awkward tackle on Rolando Mandragora resulted in a penalty decision.

Following a prolonged pause prior to the kick, as Adam Wharton hobbled away injured, Albert Gudmundsson deceived Dean Henderson from the spot to provide Fiorentina with minimal prospects of a recovery.

A further score for the home team before the interval could have spiced up the latter stages, and Manor Solomon nearly achieved it with a strike from afar that prompted a superb one-handed stop from Henderson. 

Fiorentina required something extraordinary to re-enter the contest, and replacement Cher Ndour delivered exactly that soon after the break, his low shot from range finding the bottom corner.

Paolo Vanoli's squad kept pressing in pursuit of more, as Gudmundsson and Harrison both challenged Henderson's determination.

That said, some peculiar changes by the Fiorentina manager, removing his most threatening forwards in Gudmundsson and Solomon, hampered their drive to some extent.

Palace activated their defensive resolve towards the end, holding firm against Fiorentina to secure progression to the semi-finals, setting up a meeting with Shakhtar Donetsk.

Despite a determined effort, Fiorentina failed to secure a fourth straight semi-final spot in the tournament, exiting at the quarter-finals for just the second occasion in their previous 12 European knockout matches.