Sarr has been in fine form in this competition, but even he won’t have expected to find the net within seconds of kick-off.
The Senegalese striker raced on to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s through ball and slotted inside the far post to spark jubilant scenes among the travelling support, as he moved joint top of the goalscoring charts for the competition (8).
Shakhtar quickly regained their composure as they showed all the resilience of a team forced to play their ‘home’ games 1,500km from Donetsk in Kraków, and they enjoyed a sustained spell of pressure, albeit without forcing Dean Henderson into a save.
It was not the first time the Ukrainians had struggled to find the net in the first half of a UECL game this season, with only four of their 19 goals in the competition arriving before half-time.
The Eagles had caught Shakhtar napping with their fast start in the first half, but the hosts turned the tables less than two minutes after the restart.
Kaua Elias flicked on a corner at the near post, and Palace switched off, allowing Oleh Ocheretko to sweep home his fourth goal of the season from close range with his side’s first shot on target of the night.
Eguinaldo blazed over from a promising position moments later before Dmytro Riznyk made a brilliant double save at the other end, spreading himself to deny Sarr and then diving to keep out Mateta on the rebound.
Mateta then hooked an effort against the post, but Daichi Kamada restored the Eagles’ lead just before the hour mark when he drove home his first Palace goal since October 2024.
Shakhtar forced a string of corners as they pushed hard for an equaliser, yet the visitors hit them with a sucker punch six minutes from time when they counter-attacked at pace, and substitute Jorgen Strand Larsen dinked the ball over Riznyk for the first European goal of his career.
That ensured Palace hold a commanding lead ahead of next Thursday’s second leg as manager Oliver Glasner looks to sign off with another trophy before he departs this summer, while Shakhtar need something special to avoid a third successive semi-final defeat in a UEFA competition.