The Italian side secured a 1-0 win in the second leg at Stadio Olimpico courtesy of Tammy Abraham's 10th-minute header.
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AS Roma defeated Leicester City 1-0 in the second leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final fixture at Stadio Olimpico on Thursday. The Serie A side went through to the final of the competition courtesy of a 2-1 aggregate win. The first leg at King Power Stadium had ended 1-1 after Gianluca Mancini’s own goal had canceled out Lorenzeo Pellegrini’s first-half strike. Meanwhile Tammy Abraham scored the decisive goal at home that separated the two sides. Jose Mourinho’s team displayed a solid, defensive game to get the better of the Premier League outfit over two legs. The Giallorossi will take on Feyenoord in the title-decider at Air Albania Stadium on May 25.
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2021-22 season ticket holders have until 13:00 CEST today to enter the ballot for tickets to the #UECL final.#ASRoma
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) May 6, 2022
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Prior to the start of the home leg, Mourinho had asked the Roma fans to not just come to the stadium to watch the game but rather play with them. He has repeatedly said Roma reached the final as “a family” between club, players and fans. Roma fans filled the stadium much before the players were on the pitch and created a vociferous atmosphere. Leicester seem to have succumbed to playing in front of 72,000 odd fans. Leicester players made too many miss-passes and were the second best when it came to 50-50 situations. The home players had too much energy in front of their own supporters and were cheered for every tackle they made.
An Englishman scoring the decisive goal to help an Italian side get the better of a Premier League outfit is not very common. England international Abraham, who joined the capital side last summer from Chelsea, scored the lone goal of the match in the 10th minute. The 24-year-old managed to get away from his marker Ricardo before powerfully heading the ball past the visiting keeper Kasper Schmeichel into the back of the net from Pellegrini’s corner kick. It was the striker’s 25th goal of the season and 9th in the Conference league. He is the first English player to reach that mark at this point in 2021-22. “My job is to be active around the box. That’s the kind of striker I am. Whenever I sniff an opportunity I try to take my chance. I’m not the best at heading but today was a pretty good one It was a bit of a surprise, but it doesn’t matter who is marking me, if I sniff a chance I have to go for it” Abraham told BT Sport..
Mourinho’s side displayed a defensive master-class to bet the better of the English outfit. After scoring an early goal, Roma sat deep and tried to hit the opposition on the counter-attacks. Leicester players struggled to find enough space in the final third and registered only two shots on target, both from outside the box. The defence was so compact that the Foxes failed to create any clear-cut chances. Although the hosts registered just 36% ball possession, they created 11 chances at the other end and hit four shots on target. Roma is now just one step away from their first ever European glory after losing two finals in 1991 (UEFA Cup trophy) and 1984 (European Cup).
