(Roma – Feyenoord 4–1, 4–2 on aggregate) Roma assistant Salvatore Fotti stole the spotlight in the first half – in the next three the off-field gang was to blame for the drama.
120 minutes of wild football ended the way Jose Mourinho loves him most: with a joyous celebration in front of the Roma fans at the boiling Stadio Olimpico.
The second quarter-final match against Feyenoord contained the most – and after half an hour it became chaotic in the capital.
Feyenoord’s Santiago Jimenez tried to get a ball that went over the touchline, but the Mexican was instead met by Roma assistant coach Salvatore Foti. When Jiménez reached for the ball, he was pulled back – and beaten – by the Roma coach.
– I wish it was banned for more than a year. ‘Get that kind of shit off the football field,’ says Fibplay expert Niels Johan Semp in the studio broadcast after the match.
The incident led to players from both teams swarming around referee Anthony Taylor – who quickly showed Foty a red card.
Watch the situation:
Feyenoord clearly managed to disappoint the home side, who had struggled for a long time to create big chances.
With the game clock down to 60 minutes, Roma finally managed to break through the Feyenoord defence.
After some fumbling down the field, the ball landed right at the feet of Leandro Spinazzola – who luckily passed goalkeeper Justin Bigelow to make it 1-0 in favor of the Ai Giallorossi.
10 minutes before the start of the match, Igor Baiksaw thought he had sent Feyenoord to the semi-finals:
The Brazilian was left alone in the Roma stadium, scoring 1-1 and 2-1 on aggregate.
Desperate Roma threw every player to the attack in the last minutes, and in the 89th minute the “wolves” got their money.
And Paulo Dybala followed up with a magical touch, stopping central defender Gernot Trauner, and firing home to secure extra time in the Italian capital.
Roma carried the momentum into overtime.
After a nice counter-attack, Tammy Abraham took over as waiter and found Stephan El Shaarawy – who made Roma 3-1 from close range.
Then things really took off for Jose Mourinho’s crew – in the second overtime, Lorenzo Pellegrini removed all doubts with a 4-1.
4-2 on aggregate means Jose Mourinho and the rest of the Roma camp – including the expelled Foti – are cheering for the Europa League semi-finals. Bayer Leverkusen is waiting there.
Ola Solbakken did not play for Roma. The 24-year-old is not included in Roma’s Europa League squad – and is also out injured for an indefinite period after losing to Torino two weeks ago.
At the time, Jose Mourinho said he wasn’t sure if Solbakken would be injury-free this season.
His national teammate Marcus Holmgren Pedersen was replaced by Feyenoord in the extra first round.
“Infuriatingly humble internet trailblazer. Twitter buff. Beer nerd. Bacon scholar. Coffee practitioner.”
