The Andalusians have been more accurate than Roma in the penalty shoot-out, thanks to which they have become seven times winners of this trophy.
On Wednesday, May 31, in Budapest, at the Puskas Arena, the final match of the Europa League took place between the Spanish Sevilla and the Italian Roma.
The teams are quite close in style of play, and therefore it is not surprising that they have two mirror halves.
In the first 45 minutes, the initiative was first owned by “Giallorossi”, who opened the scoring in the match. Gianluca Mancini threw Paulo Dybala into the gap, who burst into the penalty area and fired into the far corner of Yassin Bunu’s goal.
At the end of the half, the Andalusians began to gradually seize the initiative, which was under their control after the break.
And at the start of the second half, Jose Luis Mendilibar’s wards restored parity. Jesús Navas served the ball in from the right flank, and Mancini closed the pitch with his knee into his own net.
Soon the Italians had a good chance to recover, but for a moment none of the trinity of Abraham-Smolling-Ibanez could not finish the job.
15 minutes before the end of regular time, Lucas Ocampos entered the penalty area of the nominal visitors, where he was demolished by Ibanez. Anthony Taylor awarded a penalty, but after watching the replay, he reversed his decision, as the center back played the ball.
Six minutes were added to normal time, and Sevilla organized a small final attack, but Roma managed to fight back – the teams had to play two more halves of 15 minutes each.
In the first extra time, Sevilla and Roma only satisfied the sleepers – just a blow for both. We cannot say that the second 15 minutes were exciting. Yes, the teams became a little more active, but nothing concrete.
The only one who somehow provoked the events of the match – Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese was not happy with the fact that he was not allowed to make a substitute, and made a small fight.
In the remaining time, no one stole the victory, and therefore the winner of the Europa League was determined in a penalty shoot-out.
By lot, the teams hit a penalty at the gate, behind which were the Spanish fans. It all started with Ocampos, to be precise. Brian Cristante approaches the ball – the Italian leaves Bun no chance.
Lamela made use of his attempt, and Mancini, who decided to press the power in the middle, hit the goalkeeper at the foot.
Rakitic brought the score to 3:1, and Ibanez sent the ball to the post (Bunu barely caught it). Gonzalo Montiel would have ended this streak, but Rui Patricio blocked his shot. However, it appeared that the goalkeeper had jumped the line forward. After the hint, the referee forced a stop.
Patricio again jumped into the left corner, but this time Montiel shot in the opposite direction – 4:1 and Sevilla became seven-time Europa League winners! And Jose Mourinho lost in the European Cup final for the first time in his career.
Statistics of the match Sevilla – Roma Europa League final
Seville – Romans 1:1 (pen. 4:1)
the objectives: Mancini, 55 (ag.) – Dybala, 35.
Ball possession: 64% – 36%
Hits: 17 – 10
Shots on target: 3 – 3
fouls: 21 – 19
Expected goals (xG): 1.02 – 2.15
Seville: Bunu – Navas (Montiel, 95), Bade, Gudel (Marcao, 120+7), Telles (Requik, 95) – Fernando (Jordan, 120+7), Rakitic, Ocampos, Torres (Suso, 46), Gil ( Lamela, 46) – En Nesiri.
Rome: Patricio – Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez – Celik (Zalewski, 91), Cristante, Matic (Bove, 120), Spinazzola (Llorente, 106) – Pellegrini (El Shaarawy, 106) – Dybala (Wijnaldum, 68), Abraham ( Belotti , 75).
Warnings: Mir, Rakitic, Lamela, Jordan, Montiel, Ocampos – Matic, Pellegrini, Mancini, Cristante, Celik, Zalewski.
Source: korrespondent
I am William Jackson and I have a passion for sports journalism. With over 3 years of experience in the industry, I have worked in a variety of roles to improve the quality and accuracy of sports news coverage. As an author at Athletistic, I specialize in covering football news and providing comprehensive analysis for fans around the world.
