The Eagles flew out of the traps in their first-ever encounter in the final four of a European competition, Ismaïla Sarr slotting them into the lead after just 21 seconds from Jean-Philippe Mateta’s through ball – the quickest goal in Conference League history.
But Shakhtar, threatening throughout, made a bright start to the second-half themselves, equalising from a corner – only for Palace to rise to the challenge and secure a healthy advantage heading into the second leg through Daichi Kamada and Jørgen Strand Larsen.
Glasner said after the game: “I'm very happy and very pleased with the performance. We could see how good Shakhtar are individually, with so many quick players, and it was the plan: we don’t want to give them space, because when we get exposed it's so difficult to defend against them.
“Credit to the players, they stuck to the plan, worked very hard, every single one in defence, so we didn't give them a lot. Shakhtar were a big threat with their set-plays, that's also where we conceded, but I think we were the same when we played forward.
“When we were on the attack we were always very threatening, and I was really impressed with the reaction the team showed after we conceded the equaliser from a set-play, because all of a sudden we had two or three big chances, we missed them, and then it was a long throw-in, we took the lead again and then waited for our situations.
“It was a huge impact from the bench, so overall we are very pleased with the performance, but it's just the first step. We will analyse this game, because I believe we have to perform even better at home to go to Leipzig to the final.”
