ROMA NARROWLY GOES OVER LEICESTER TO REACH EUROPA FINAL AS TAMMY GETS ONLY GOAL IN THE MATCH.
A first-half Tammy Abraham goal was enough for AS Roma to claim a 1-0 victory over Leicester and progress to the first ever final of the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) 2-1 on aggregate – the Italian side’s first European final since 1991.
Both sides started on the front foot, looking to gain the early advantage, but with an electric Stadio Olimpico it was the hosts who took the lead 11 minutes in. Lorenzo Pellegrini placed his corner on the edge of the six-yard box where a rising Abraham headed home for his ninth goal in the 12 UECL games. Falling behind seemed to unsettle ‘the Foxes’, as they struggled to get past a Roma defence that looked to be settling into a typical José Mourinho defensive structure. As the half progressed Leicester’s urgency continued to grow and for all their pressure they only managed four shots before HT, none of which were on target.
The ‘Giallorossi’ started the second half with an almost identical corner to the one in which Abraham scored from, but this time the English striker missed the ball by a few inches, with it eventually fumbling its way to Kasper Schmeichel. After that Leicester regained control of the ball and pushed for an equaliser, but Roma stood firm. Despite the overwhelming possession, ‘the Foxes’ continued to fire shots wide of the hosts goal. That ended in the 78th minute when James Maddison managed to seize on a loose ball on the edge of the box and fire, but it was straight at Rui Patrício.
Roma’s resistance booked their place in the inaugural UECL final, and they’ll be hoping to go one better than the 1991 final against Inter Milan and bring a first European honour to the historic club. Victory for Mourinho’s men added another accolade to his legendary career, becoming the first manager to reach a major European final with four different clubs. Meanwhile for Brendan Rodgers’ side, this marks the end of their continental adventure, with a return to the competition next season looking unlikely through their league position.
