Feyenoord has once again been eliminated by AS Roma in a European club tournament. In the interim round of the Europa League, the Rotterdam team lost to the Romans on penalties (4-2). Just like in Rotterdam, the scoreboard was also 1-1 in Rome after regular playing time.
Arne Slot surprised with Bart Nieuwkoop in the starting line-up. Normally Nieuwkoop is deployed as a right back, but in Rome he started as a right winger. Finally, Nieuwkoop previously posted in the right winger position. That was in the cracker against PSV in the eighth final of the TOTO KNVB Cup. The coach was also able to make use of Quinten Timber and Lutsharel Geertruida, who were not available in the first game.
Feyenoord faced a difficult task in Italy. Two years ago, Feyenoord lost the Conference League final to AS Roma. Last season things went wrong against the Romans in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. So the team was extra keen for a victory.
Match in balance
The Feyenoord team had a dream start in Rome. After five minutes of play, Feyenoord took the lead through Santiago Giménez. It was the striker’s first goal since January 14.
However, Slot’s team could not enjoy the lead for long. Ten minutes later the match was tied again. Lorenzo Pellegrini placed the ball beautifully in the far corner. Two minutes earlier, Mats Wieffer missed eye-to-eye with AS Roma keeper Mile Svilar. Furthermore, the first half produced few chances.
Threatening Roma
After the break, both teams had to work hard to come out of the match as winners. Almost immediately after the kick-off of the second half, Paulo Dybala tried to shoot on goal with a volley, but Dávid Hancko was able to easily block the ball.
In the 70th minute, Timon Wellenreuther prevented a dangerous chance for the Romans. Dybala sent Stephan El Shaarawy deep behind Feyenoord’s last line, but the keeper was alert and got out of his goal in time to save the ball.
Just before regular playing time was over, AS Roma defender Diego Llorente had to leave the field on a stretcher after a header duel with substitute Ayase Ueda. Evan N’Dicka was his replacement.
Extension
After six minutes of injury time, regular playing time ended and extra time was played in Rome. The Rotterdam team emphatically looked for the goal in extra time. Several times they came out dangerous, but the finishing was lacking.
In the final minutes of extra time, Feyenoord got away well thanks to a save from Wellenreuther. The keeper was able to clear Romelu Lukaku’s shot with his fingertips. A little later, the Belgian headed over from a corner and the match had to be decided by penalties.
Penalty shootout
After two accurate penalties from Ueda and Leandro Paredes, it was Lukaku who missed first. But Dávid Hancko was unable to capitalize on the miss and was also not accurate. Bryan Cristante shot Roma to 2-1. Then Alireza Jahanbakhsh was unable to get the ball past goalkeeper Svilar. Houssem Aouar took the Romans even further into the lead. Quilindschy Hartman did score, but then Nicola Zalewski did the same for Roma and Feyenoord was again eliminated by the Italians.
The Conference and Europa League draw can be seen LIVE on ESPN on Friday from 12 noon.
2024-02-23 04:52:30
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