11 May 2023 , 21:01
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Roma pulled off another Jose Mourinho masterclass to defeat Bayer Leverkusen and put one foot in the Europa League final.
Boyhood hero Edoardo Bove scored the game's only goal in the second-half to secure victory at the Stadio Olimpico. But the hopes of seeing an all-Italian final are in the balance as Juventus held Sevilla to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their semi-final tie.
It has been an unlikely charge to the final for Sevilla, who currently sit in the bottom half of the LaLiga table. Juve are fighting for a top four spot in Serie A, alongside Roma, though they do have the threat of a points deduction hanging over them.
In Rome, it proved to be a game of precious few chances, with Roma and Leverkusen mostly cancelling each other out. Leverkusen enjoyed the lion's share of possession, with 60 per cent of the ball.
But they came up against a stubborn Roma defence which allowed the visitors just two shots on target. And it was actually Roma who got on the scoresheet first, when they broke forward before the ball fell to Tammy Abraham in the box.
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Abraham spun and saw his shot saved with the rebound bouncing out to Bove, who fired home the opener. Mourinho avoided controversy on the touchline and will have been delighted to see his side produce a performance very much in his image.
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Youssef En-Nesyri's first-half goal ensured Sevilla defeated Juventus (Sportinfoto/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)Leverkusen were left increasingly frustrated by Roma's timewasting tactics, with boss Xabi Alonso frequently protesting to the fourth official. As the game entered the final 15 minutes, Paolo Dybala made his return from injury, to the delight of the crowd.
The hosts were forced to defend for large periods, but were able to successfully hold onto their clean sheet and take a one-goal lead into the second leg. The other Italian side in the final four still have a lot of work to do though, with Juve drawing against Sevilla.
Despite the hosts enjoying a three-game unbeaten run heading into Thursday's clash, it was Sevilla who had the best chances of the game. And the Spanish side took the lead 26 minutes in when Youssef En-Nesyri's swept home Lucas Ocampos' pass.
A counter-attack split open the Jude defence, with Bryan Gil stepping over Ocampos' cross to allow El-Nesyri to slot it past Wojciech Szczesny. Sevilla continued to pressure Szczesny's goal after that strike.
First, En-Nesyri found himself through on goal, but Danilo got back well to tackle the striker. Then Szczesny had to pull off a wonderful save to claw Ivan Rakitic's effort over the bar.
Sevilla's impressive performance led to a double change from Juve at the break, with Federico Chiesa and Samuel Iling-Junior replacing Filip Kostic and Fabio Miretti. It took until the very last minute for those changes to work, with Fernando Gatti heading it at the back post.