AS Roma claimed a 1-0 victory over Leicester City in the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League semifinal, confirming their presence in Tirana three weeks from now. The Italian side will meet Feyenoord after the Dutch outfit overcame Marseille across two legs.
AS Roma put in a quintessential Jose Mourinho performance to advance past Leicester and into the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League final. Putting aside a disappointing domestic campaign, the Giallorossi took an early lead in the second leg through Tammy Abraham – the Englishman scored with a thumping header in the 11th minute from a Lorenzo Pellegrini corner, his 25th goal of the season across all competitions.
Roma sat back for much of the game thereafter, allowing Leicester to have the ball while looking to attack the spaces left behind. But the raucous Olimpico proved a nagging distraction for the English outfit, who barely threatened Rui Patricio’s goal throughout the night. Roma advanced to the Final with a 2-1 aggregate win, leaving Mourinho – the first manager to reach the final of the Champions League, the Europa League, and the Conference League – in tears.
Feyenoord will face Roma in the Air Albania Stadium on May 25 after they booked their place in the trophy tie by beating Olympique Marseille 3-2 on aggregate. All five goals of the tie were scored in the first leg itself, but there was no shortage of match-winning chances in the second. Two of which fell to Dimitri Payet in the opening minutes, but, on both occasions, the Frenchman failed to make the most of it.
At the other end, midfielder Guus Til proved to be a constant menace to the Marseille defensive line, with his runs from deep often left unchecked. However, missing his finishing boots, Til, too, squandered chances to put his side further ahead on aggregate, and the tie edged towards a stalemate.
Spaces began opening up in the second half when Marseille committed numbers forward. Feyenoord threatened to capitalize on the same through the pace of their forwards, but last-ditch defending kept the Olympians in the game.
However, it was all for nothing as, at the other end, the Marseille forwards fell to leave a lasting impression, and goalkeeper Ofir Marciano was left untroubled for most of the night. Feyenoord advanced to their first European final since the 2001/02 season.
