Fiorentina 2-1 Crystal Palace (2-4 aggregate): Glasner hails Eagles’ resilience in booking semi-final place

Oliver Glasner praised Crystal Palace‘s resilience after they secured their place in the semi-finals of the Conference League despite losing 2-1 at Fiorentina in the second leg of their quarter-final tie.

Palace headed to Florence with a 3-0 lead from the first leg and the tie looked to be over after Ismaila Sarr headed them in front on the night to make it 4-0 on aggregate in the 17th minute.

But Albert Gudmundsson levelled from the penalty spot after a foul by Jaydee Canvot, with the withdrawal of Adam Wharton through injury providing more problems for Palace.

Defender Maxence Lacroix then left the pitch six minutes later, and Fiorentina had hope of a turnaround when Cher Ndour fired into the bottom-left corner from long range eight minutes into the second half.

But Palace defended well to preserve their advantage in the tie, setting up a semi-final clash with Shakhtar Donetsk.

“A quarter-final is never easy and made it a little bit tougher than it could have been with a great start into the game, taking the lead,” Glasner told TNT Sports.

“Fiorentina got the belief back [after the penalty] and then, yeah, it was really a very difficult game to manage, to be honest, also for the players. making two subs in the first half reduces the options we had to react.

“That’s why we subbed JP [Mateta] already at half-time, because we knew he can’t play maybe 90 minutes. And, yeah, in second half, then it was a great strike. All of a sudden we were 2-1 down, and it was quite early in the second half. And the reaction was great again, I think.

“We didn’t play really attacking football, but we defended very well, And the team showed great resilience today. And in the knockout stages, sometimes it’s not always playing the best football. It’s unique, different skills. And today it was really being resilient and working hard, sticking together, and the team did it. So I think afterwards we didn’t give them a big chance. That’s why over the two games, I think we deserved to play the semi-final.”

Crystal Palace overcome first-half injuries

Asked about the injuries, Glasner struck an optimistic tone over Wharton.

“Adam is his adductor. It doesn’t look so serious but of course we have to assess him further,” Glasner added.

“Max, he touched foot to foot uh and then he felt he felt his knee. I think the medial ligament. So let’s see. It’s painful. Unfortunately we play in four days again. But also credit to all the players who came in.

“I think the defence then with Chadi Riyad, Chris Richards, and Jaydee Canvot did very well. Also Jeff Lerma and then Will [Hughes] in midfield. So, yeah, we have enough options. That’s good. But today we are celebrating to go to the semi-finals. It’s really a massive achievement for the players. It’s a massive achievement for Crystal Palace, and we are enjoying tonight.”

Asked about last-four opponents Shakhtar, who booked their place before Palace kicked off by completing a 5-2 aggregate win over AZ Alkmaar, Glasner replied: “I didn’t watch them, but I saw their line-up. I think today they started with six Brazilian players. Last time they started with seven and four Ukrainian.

“I played them once. A couple of years ago with Wolfsburg, straight before COVID in first leg and the second leg, I think six months later, we lost. At that time, they had many Brazilian players, so I expect them being a very technical side.

“We have experience with Dynamo Kiev, Shakhtar is the number one in Ukraine. But now we will start to prepare, watching the games they have played. And so we will be well prepared.

“But of course, in between, we play West Ham and Liverpool, and we also want to do well in the Premier League.”