Crystal Palace take healthy two-goal lead into second leg of semi against Shakhtar

Sarr has performed strongly in this tournament, yet even he likely did not anticipate scoring mere moments after the start.

The Senegalese forward dashed onto Jean-Philippe Mateta’s pass and placed it into the far corner to ignite celebrations from the away followers, placing him level at the top of the competition’s scoring list (8).

Shakhtar soon steadied themselves, revealing the determination of a squad obliged to host their ‘home’ fixtures 1500km from Donetsk in Kraków, and they controlled the ball for an extended period, though they failed to test Dean Henderson.

This marked another instance where the Ukrainian outfit struggled to score during the opening 45 minutes of a UECL match this term, as merely four of their 19 goals in the event occurred before the interval.

The Eagles surprised Shakhtar with their rapid opening in the first half, yet the hosts responded within under two minutes of the break.

Kaua Elias nodded a corner towards the near post, catching Palace unawares and enabling Oleh Ocheretko to finish his fourth goal of the campaign from close range, marking his team’s initial shot on target that evening.

Eguinaldo fired over from a favourable spot soon afterwards, prior to Dmytro Riznyk executing an outstanding double stop at the opposite end, extending to thwart Sarr before leaping to block Mateta’s rebound attempt.

Mateta subsequently struck a volley off the upright, though Daichi Kamada re-established the Eagles’ advantage just shy of the hour when he powered in his first Palace strike since October 2024. 

Shakhtar secured a series of corners while pressing for a tie, but the away side delivered a decisive counter six minutes from the end, surging forward swiftly as replacement Jorgen Strand Larsen lifted the ball over Riznyk for his maiden European goal.

This outcome leaves Palace with a solid buffer for next Thursday’s return match, while boss Oliver Glasner seeks to cap his time there with an additional honour prior to his summer exit, as Shakhtar must produce something extraordinary to evade a third consecutive semi-final exit in a UEFA tournament.