Gonzalo Montiel scored the winning penalty to help Sevilla produce one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in the Europa League final. The game-changing penalty kick was scored by Gonzalo Montiel, who also converted the winning kick for Argentina in the World Cup championship. The Europa League experts handed Jose Mourinho, the manager of Roma, his first defeat in a European final after five victories. A fiercely contested game that went into extra time when Gianluca Mancini’s own goal canceled out Paulo Dybala’s well-taken opening before Sevilla won in the shootout was marked by more yellow cards for coaching and technical staff than for players.
Sevilla has had a difficult domestic season, beset by relegation worries until recently, similar to Roma but to a greater extent, but foreign competition tends to be their paradise. After Dybala intercepted Mancini’s defense-splitting pass and allowed the ball to glide across his body onto his preferred left boot and hit the far corner in one quick move, the Andalucian club’s aura of invincibility came under attack (35). However, 10 minutes into the second half, Mancini’s own goal gave Sevilla the lead. After a dull overtime period, Montiel won the match with the winning penalty, but crucially, only after receiving a second chance after custodian Rui Patricio was found to have interfered with his first attempt, which was saved.
Montiel scored the go-ahead spot-kick, this time in a European final, to proclaim Sevilla winners at the cost of Mourinho’s Roma five months after scoring the winning penalty on the largest stage of all. The second-tier competition’s masters narrowly prevailed in a contentious match, and they will return to Spain with an incredible seventh victory. When Dybala survived a problematic ankle injury in time to give the Serie A team the lead, Mourinho, whose future at Roma is now in doubt, was poised to surpass Sir Alex Ferguson as the most decorated European manager in history with six championships.
However, Mancini, who had assisted Dybala, subsequently clumsily turned into his own goal as a stormy match ended 1-1 after 120 minutes. The importance of what was at stake—European glory as well as the possibility to earn a berth on the roster of the Champions League for the next season—helped in only a tiny part in keeping the benches on both sides from becoming noticeably irritable from the start. English referee Anthony Taylor was entrusted with keeping order. Late in the second quarter, when Lucas Ocampos went over Roger Ibanez’s trailing leg and Taylor pointed to the spot, tempers flared, especially when VAR intervened to emphasise slight contact and quickly reverse the award.
Roma nearly got the last laugh as Taylor’s black book filled with names, but Andrea Belotti, who had replaced Tammy Abraham, flubbed a volley following a deft free-kick routine. Ocampos and Erik Lamela scored for Sevilla in the first round of the shootout, either side of Bryan Cristante’s goal for Roma. However, Sevilla gained the edge after Mancini’s feeble shot bounced off a diving Bono’s extended leg. Patricio looked to have given Roma hope by tipping Montiel’s penalty kick onto the post, but his encroachment offered the full-back another chance, which he was unwilling to turn down. Ibanez then watched his shot painfully crash against the post.
“A Sevilla-style match was played. We have to struggle to succeed. This is challenging. This competition presents something that cannot be explained,” Sevilla winger Lucas Ocampos said.
“I cannot honestly claim that I will stay because I must battle for these young men. When I received that contact from the Portuguese national team in December, I spoke with the club,” Roma boss Jose Mourinho said. “Since that time, I haven’t spoken to anyone else. This is the predicament, and I still have one year left on my contract. Though exhausted, we are proud. You may lose a football game, but never your professionalism or respect, I always say. I didn’t win this one, but I came home this time more proud than ever. This season, the guys gave everything they had.”
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