AS Roma were crowned the first winners of the UEFA Europa Conference League after beating Feyenoord Rotterdam 1-0 at the Air Albania Stadium in Tirana, Albania on Wednesday evening.
Feyenoord started the game with a clear dominance, moving forward with great fluency, while Roma were happy to play on the counter.
An early substitution was needed by Roma in the 16th minute when Henrikh Mkhitaryan was replaced by Sergio Oliveira, ending his night prematurely.
Feyenoord’s first shot at goal was attempted by Cyriel Desser but it deflected and looped into the hands of Rui Patricio.
Roma, however, struck first when a long ball was floated into the box by Gianluca Mancini, then perfectly controlled and finished by Nicolo Zaniolo, making him the youngest Italian player to score in a European Final (22) in 25 years.
Feyenoord pushed for a equalizer through Orkun Kokcu, who launched a long range shot that Patricio fumbled but gathered after.
Tyrell Malacia tried once more by putting a ball into the box that Roma’s shot stopper palmed away nervously. The first half ended with Roma’s slender lead.
The Dutch side started the second half with an early chance, hitting the upright through Gernot Trauner and leading to a rebound by Guus Til that was saved by Patricio.
Malacia piled it on again via a drilled shot that was strongly tipped away by Patricio, who pushed the ball against the upright.
Abraham was nearly through on goal but seemed to be held back somehow without the referee noticing and VAR interfering.
Desser almost had at shot on goal inside the penalty box but was blocked and denied by Roger Ibanez.
Roma managed to see out the game, marking it the fifth major European final Mourinho has won as manager.
