Crystal Palace have cruised past Shakhtar Donetsk to reach their first-ever major European final, winning 5-2 on aggregate and 2-1 on the night.
An own goal off Pedrinho and a tap-in from Ismaila Sarr were enough to send the south Londoners through to the Europa Conference League final.
Palace will face Rayo Vallecano later this month, who advanced past Strasbourg 2-0 on aggregate.
Kaua Elias had a good chance in the opening stages but dragged his left-footed strike wide, not troubling Dean Henderson in goal.
Crystal Palace have reached the Europa Conference League final
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REUTERS
The Englishman was called into action less than a minute later after Eguinaldo got in behind, fizzing a strike at the former Manchester United man.
It was easily saved by the England international and would not have counted anyway, with the Brazilian straying into an offside position.
Ten minutes into the contest, the scoring nearly got underway, with Yeremy Pino thinking he got himself on the scoresheet.
A clipped ball forward towards Jean-Phillippe Mateta saw the Frenchman flick a header in behind the Shaktar defence for the Spaniard to finish in style, but he had just strayed into an offside position.
Palace will face Rayo Vallecano in the final
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REUTERS
The home supporters will be looking at flights to Germany later this month for the final in Leipzig
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REUTERS
Not long after though and Palace did get their well-deserved lead, coming in the form of an own goal after Daniel Munoz kept the ball alive from an Adam Wharton shot, as the Colombian put a ball across the face of goal to be deflected in by Pedrinho.
They were not ahead for long as Eguinaldo finished beautifully, looping a delightful curling effort into the top left corner past a static Henderson, who had no chance.
Mateta up the other end nearly scored a spectacular bicycle kick, but the Frenchman’s effort just hit the wrong side of the post.
Henderson was called into action in the early stages of the second half with a good save off his right leg.
Ismaila Sarr scored Palace’s second goal on the night
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Palace then went straight up the other end with a fantastic counter-attacking move, eventually falling its way to Sarr, who scored from close range to put the home side in cruise control.
Jorgan Strand Larsen then went close, spinning inside the six-yard box and getting a shot away, but was well-saved by Dmytro Riznyk.
The Eagles saw out the victory to reach their first-ever major European final against Spanish side Rayo Vallecano.
It is a memorable night in the history of Crystal Palace, and they have Oliver Glasner to thank, who has European success in the past, winning the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022.
The final will be played on May 27 at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig.
