Football

Roma score twice in extra time to book Europa semi-final spot

April 21, 2023 6:48 am

[Source: Reuters]

Stephan El Shaarawy and Lorenzo Pellegrini scored in extra time to earn hosts AS Roma a spot in the Europa League semi-finals after defeating Dutch side Feyenoord 4-1 on Thursday for a 4-2 aggregate win.

El Shaarawy converted a cross from Tammy Abraham after 101 minutes and Pellegrini sealed the win seven minutes later when he slotted in a rebound from an Abraham shot.

After Feyenoord had won the quarter-final first leg 1-0, Roma pushed for the opening goal from the start, missing two great opportunities in the first 10 minutes.

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On the hour mark, roars of relief erupted around the Stadio Olimpico when Leonardo Spinazzola took advantage of a deflection within the box to poke the ball into the bottom corner.

In the 80th minute, Igor Paixao headed in an equaliser for the visitors, unmarked inside the box from a cross by Sebastian Szymanski, only for Roma’s Paulo Dybala to level the aggregate score one minute before stoppage time with a shot from a tricky angle.

Roma will meet Bayer Leverkusen in the semi-finals on May 11 and 18 after the German side knocked out Union Saint-Gilloise 5-2 on aggregate.