Sevilla in seventh heaven after Europa League title triumph
Sevilla found its Europa League magic formula on Wednesday, beating Roma 41 on penalties after a 11 draw to make it seven wins in seven finals in Europe’s secondtier competition.
The Spanish side trailed after Paulo Dybala’s firsthalf opener in Budapest but pulled level in the second period when Roma defender Gianluca Mancini scored an own goal.
On to penalties
Extratime could not separate the teams and the game went to penalties at the Puskas Arena.
Gonzalo Montiel, who scored the winning penalty in the 2022 World Cup final, netted the decisive spotkick after Mancini and Roger Ibanez had failed to convert for Roma.
The fans created a crackling atmosphere before kickoff but the early stages of the game did not match the colour in the stands.
The Italian side created the first opportunity of the match but Leonardo Spinazzola shot straight at Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou after neat buildup play involving Dybala and Zeki Celik.
Just after the halfhour, Roma appealed for a spotkick after forward Tammy Abraham was caught on the head by a high boot from Nemanja Gudelj as the Sevilla defender was clearing the ball but VAR confirmed it was not a penalty.
But minutes later it was in front.
Dybala ran between two defenders and latched onto Mancini’s through ball from the centre circle, coolly slotting his shot past Bounou.
Finding fluency
Sevilla, finally finding some fluency, came agonisingly close to levelling deep into the seven minutes of addedon time when Ivan Rakitic drilled a fierce leftfooted strike from distance that cannoned back off an upright.
Sevilla boss Jose Luis Mendilibar brought on forwards Suso and Erik Lamela for Oliver Torres and Bryan Gil at the break and the Spanish side began the second period on the front foot.
Own goal
It was level after 10 minutes when Mancini bundled a Jesus Navas cross from the right into his own net from close range.
Extratime was largely uneventful as tempers flared between the two benches but Roma defender Chris Smalling almost snatched the win when he hit the woodwork with a looping header from a corner in the dying seconds.
The result: Sevilla 1 (Mancini 55-og) drew with Roma 1 (Dybala 35) after extra time (Sevilla won