Crystal Palace finished a 0-0 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk at Selhurst Park on Thursday May 7 to carry a 3-1 aggregate lead into the Conference League final weekend, leaving Palace halfway to what would be their first ever European final.
The scoreline underlines the simple fact of the tie: Palace hold a 3-1 advantage from the first leg and, despite a tense night in south London, could not be breached in the return fixture as the teams remained level at 0-0 in the second leg.
The match turned on a single decisive intervention: Yéremy Pino saw the ball hit the net for Palace, only for the goal to be ruled out after a VAR review that judged him offside. The disallowed effort preserved Shakhtar’s clean sheet at Selhurst and kept the aggregate math firmly in Palace’s favour.
There were other moments that punctured the flow. Valerii Bondar received the first yellow card of the game for a crunching tackle on Jean-Philippe Mateta, a foul that illustrated the risk Shakhtar took whenever they committed men forward in search of a goal. Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer had played through the speakers before kick-off, and the home atmosphere — loud, full of red and blue flags and flame-throwers — never softened even as the game grew cagey.
Former player and pundit Lucy Ward captured the tactical trade-off in one line after the disallowed goal: "That is unlucky, but that is the way that Crystal Palace are going to get a goal in this game; Shakhtar have to put pressure on, so there is space to attack." Ward’s observation underlined the central tension of the night — Shakhtar must chase a deficit, but the very act of chasing hands Palace the openings that produced Pino’s ruled-out score.
For Palace, the result means they travel to the tie’s conclusion with control. For Shakhtar, Bondar’s early yellow and the setback of the VAR decision crystallised a narrow window of urgency they must exploit if they are to overturn a two-goal deficit from the first leg.
The final opponent to be decided for the 2025/26 Conference League awaits the winner of Strasbourg versus Rayo Vallecano, so Palace head into the closing act with the simple arithmetic of a 3-1 cushion and a single neutral leg to navigate. The second leg at Selhurst closed without a decisive goal but with plenty left to play for on aggregate.
Given the tie’s balance after Thursday’s return match — Palace protected a clean sheet and saw a potential third goal chalked off only by VAR — the clearest conclusion is this: Crystal Palace are well placed to reach their first ever European final, and whatever drama remains will unfold against the winner of Strasbourg versus Rayo Vallecano.
