Tammy Abraham heads Roma into final to end Leicester’s European hopes
A few minutes after the final whistle, fresh from exiting the Europa Conference League and slipping to a semifinal defeat that ends their hopes of playing on the continent next season, Leicester’s players trudged across to the corner of this throbbing arena where their 3,500 travelling supporters were housed. Kasper Schmeichel chucked his goalkeeping gloves into the crowd, Jamie Vardy his shin pads and, given they are lagging behind in the Premier League, 11th and out of the picture with five games to play, it was hard to escape the feeling that Leicester’s season in effect ended here, to a slender defeat courtesy of an early Tammy Abraham header.
The galling thing for Brendan Rodgers was that Abraham’s 27th goal of the season stemmed from a set piece, the England striker towering above Ricardo Pereira at a corner to score the decisive goal in this tie. In the buildup Rodgers pinpointed set plays as one of Roma’s primary threats and he conceded Pereira against Abraham was an unfortunate mismatch. The Leicester defender Jonny Evans confirmed Pereira was assigned to mark Abraham. “Our achilles heel has been set pieces and it has undone us again in what was a very tight game, so that is clearly disappointing,” Rodgers said. “We’ve gone man to man, we’ve gone to zonal, but it clearly doesn’t work consistently enough. We’re giving away too many cheap goals and too many times it has cost us. Clearly we lack physicality in those moments.”
At full time José Mourinho beat his chest and turned to the Roma fans, fist pumping in celebration with Feyenoord awaiting in the final. Job done. Rodgers knew his players would be given a warm welcome and some appeared to wilt in an intimidating atmosphere. Leicester did not register a shot on target until the 79th minute, when James Maddison shot straight at Rui Patrício and the substitute Kelechi Iheanacho located the same target a few minutes later. Leicester’s players were jeered on arrival and even when the away supporters serenaded Claudio Ranieri, who managed both of these clubs with mixed success, a partisan home crowd made sure to drown out their cheers. Shortly before kick-off the Curva Sud unfurled a giant tifo depicting the words In Britannia Cuncti Nomen Romanorum Horrebant – “Everyone in Britain dreads the name of the Romans”.
Rodgers lined his team up to attack Roma – James Justin and Harvey Barnes both started with the manager recognising the need for pace at both ends – but they failed to flummox Roma and he switched to a back three at half-time. Six minutes after falling behind, Schmeichel was alert to make a save from a tight angle after Lorenzo Pellegrini latched on to a cute through ball and Roma headed down the tunnel at the break unruffled. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, a year on from playing for Luton at home to Rotherham, tried his luck with a curled effort that sailed wide and soon after the big screens at each end of this enormous arena displayed the face of a rather content Francesco Totti.
Daniel Amartey and Iheanacho replaced Barnes and Ademola Lookman, who had been easily shackled, and Rodgers pushed Pereira and Justin forward to wing-back. Leicester restarted with a discernible vim, Dewsbury-Hall digging his heels in to win a free-kick, and moments later Justin surged forward down the left flank before his attempt to pick out Vardy was cut out for a corner. Dewsbury-Hall sent another shot flashing wide shortly after the television cameras panned to Ranieri.
The Italian, visibly emotional, stood to acknowledge the applause emanating from both the home and away sections. Leicester had roused themselves and Vardy saw a shot blocked after he met Maddison’s low corner.
Nicola Zalewski had a late shot blocked by the substitute Timothy Castagne and Abraham geed up the home fans to ensure Roma got over the line. “Let’s go to Tirana,” Mourinho said as he left his post-match press conference, with Roma primed for their first European final since 1991. “I shed a tear because my emotion was for everyone that loves this club. This is a giant club without the trophy room in relation to the social dimension of the club. This is not a trophy – it is only a final – but it means a lot for them. Because I live and work in this city for 11 months I know what it means.”