Crystal Palace survive Fiorentina fightback to make final four of Conference League

[p]With [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/crystal-palace/AovF1Mia/"]Palace[/a] three goals to the good after the first leg, the onus was on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fiorentina/Q3A3IbXH/"]Fiorentina[/a] to take the game to their opponents, but their already slim chances took a huge hit in the early stages.[/p][p][b]Palace weren’t happy to rest on their laurels and stretched their aggregate lead inside the opening 20 minutes when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/munoz-daniel/4vZVW6Ur/"]Daniel Munoz[/a] marauded down the right and planted a perfect cross onto the head of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sarr-ismaila/ll2uTDkB/"]Ismaïla Sarr[/a], who nodded the Eagles ahead on the night.[/b][/p][embed guid="afb5c170-4709-44c7-9fe2-e4d898cb7089" url="https://x.com/CPFC/status/2044859181308502302" social-type="twitter" /][p]La Viola were fortunate not to fall two behind to the same man when the visitors turned the ball over straight from kick-off and Sarr raced through on goal, but this time he saw his effort repelled by the legs of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-gea-david/d6AEQ6OD/"]David de Gea[/a].[/p][p]The hosts were handed a lifeline midway through the first half when a clumsy challenge from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/canvot-jaydee/fPUrL2AL/"]Jaydee Canvot[/a] on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mandragora-rolando/v9oBM840/"]Rolando Mandragora[/a] was punished by the awarding of a penalty.[/p][p][b]After a lengthy break before the spot-kick was taken to allow [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wharton-adam/v5IYUpDm/"]Adam Wharton[/a] to limp off, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gudmundsson-albert/bHCOu1Tl/"]Albert Gudmundsson[/a] sent [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/henderson-dean/OpFOJojt/"]Dean Henderson[/a] the wrong way from 12 yards to offer Fiorentina scant hope of mounting a comeback.[/b][/p][p]Another home goal prior to half-time would certainly have made the second half interesting, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/solomon-manor/v5LRVtuB/"]Manor Solomon[/a] went close to grabbing one when his long-range drive forced Henderson to make a fine one-handed save. [/p][p][b]It was always likely to take something special to get Fiorentina back into the game, and substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ndour-cher/8QRFNbb8/"]Cher Ndour[/a] found just that within 10 minutes of the restart when his daisy-cutter from distance nestled in the bottom corner.[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vanoli-paolo/AB3WB3pA/"]Paolo Vanoli[/a]’s men continued to probe as they searched for another goal, with Gudmundsson and Harrison both testing Henderson’s resolve.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="4a18d8b7-275f-4033-898c-48dddd41b3b7" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="a43fe927-6f28-4aa2-840f-2fb8324135f8" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]However, some objectively strange substitutions from the Fiorentina boss, which saw him take off his two brightest attackers in Gudmundsson and Solomon, stunted their momentum somewhat.[/p][p]Palace’s survival instincts kicked in for the closing stages, digging deep to keep Fiorentina at bay and stamp their ticket to the last four, where a clash with Shakhtar Donetsk awaits.[/p][p]Even a spirited display couldn’t book Fiorentina a fourth successive appearance in the semi-finals of this competition, as they crashed out at the quarter-final stage for only the second time in their last 12 such European ties.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mandragora-rolando/v9oBM840/"]Rolando Mandragora[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fiorentina/Q3A3IbXH/"]Fiorentina[/a])[/b][/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/crystal-palace-AovF1Mia/fiorentina-Q3A3IbXH/summary/stats/?mid=nTXCk4hM"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore[/a][/h2][image alt="Momentum" id="3021dbec-60fe-40e4-b6dc-c85624c342ef" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="bc16adf4-9bef-4871-9c07-b7068396bc47" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /]